I was wrong

I have to admit it, I was wrong...

I thought Zook and this team were good enough for six wins and a trip to Boise or some other equally undesirable December location. But no, moRon failed to live up to even my low expectations.

As I've documented here all season long the Illini faithful have made this the year of the excuses. It's Locksley's fault, it's the two-coordinator system on defense, it's the special teams, it's the athletic director, etc. etc. The other argument in favor of Zook has been last year's trip to Pasadena, a trip you'd think most fans would want to forget. But in moRon land getting your ass kicked on national TV is a huge accomplishment.

A few words about Pat Fitzgerald. Take a look at him closely Illini fans. On the sideline does he inspire confidence? Does it look like his players understand what he is trying to implement? Be honest with yourself. You know that when you look at him you see a coach. Now look at Zook pacing the sidelines nervously back and forth, talking into the microphone on his headset with a faraway look on his face. Think about the way Zook talks, you've all been watching "The Journey". Is this a man that young men will follow and become better listening to?

Now some of the action from the game thread at the Scout message board (insideillini.com):

The faqs still apply.

That's the very first post on the thread. For those of you who aren't message board afficionados, the FAQs are the guidelines for the board (thou shall not curse, thou shall not take the name of our lord and savior Ron Zook in vain, etc.). The very first post on the thread is a clear indication that Illini fans were expecting to lose and that people would be going out of their minds. Prophetic.

What is more dead? A) Our team's emotional output or B) This gamethread?

Yeah I noticed that too.

That is a good question. I think the vast the majority have given up on the season, including the players

Ron Zook couldn't inspire a team out of a wet paper bag.

This is pathetic. I want to vomit watching this. I am very close to turning it off, and I NEVERRRRRR miss a snap of Illini football.

Welcome to my life circa 2004.

No $h!+, tell me about it! Whenever the Illini defense (or whatever the announcers call it) is on the field I want to punch a hole in my television screen!

I think I'm going to have new contributors to this blog soon. Send applications to notbaghead [at] lycos [dot] com.

Man the OL is bad. I don't care what all world receivers we have next year, if our OL is anything like this they will never see the ball.

Yeah, if you only had those Ron Turner recruits from last year...

Is anybody surprised? This board suffers from lethal doses of kool-aid, and nobody should have expected us to win this game. Zook and company laid a huge egg this season, and it was clear since the ULL game that we weren't ready for prime time.

I can't offer you any pay, but our readership is increasing every week and we have the top billing on google when you search for "Fire Ron Zook" and "Zook is an idiot" etc.

I honestly don't see it any better next year.

No reason to. As long as moRon is your coach this is what you can expect.

what a pathetic season. Maybe I need to become a "co-fan" with another team, so that I can watch a winning program.

I took a liking to Hawaii while Zook was coaching the Gators. They were an overachieving team. I still have the hat if you want it.

well look at the bright side, at least "the journey" is over, no more distractions

"The Journey" will go down in history as one of the best pieces of journalism ever. Face it, how often do you get to watch the behind the scenes of a team imploding, in living color right in your living room?