Mike Bianchi proves again that he's a fucking idiot

I knew it was a matter of time before some enterprising reporter caught up with Ron Zook to see what he what he's up to nowadays. And earlier this month Mike Bianchi was that reporter. Fine. I was amused as I read the article up until I read this:

As the years have passed since he was run out of Florida, I’ve often wondered whether Zook got a fair shake — from fans, from administrators and from those of us in the media. When you see where the program is now after Urban Meyer left it in a mess, the Zook years are starting to look pretty good.

Are you fucking kidding me? Any credibility Bianchi may have had (and it couldn't be much, I haven't read the guy in years) is gone after uttering such a stupidity. How could anyone consider years in which the Gators regularly lost 5 games and the coach and team were belligerent towards the fans. Ron Zook was a walking NCAA violation the fact he never got busted notwithstanding.

Of course Bianchi brings back the old "cupboard was bare" argument about Zook's time at Florida which is absolute horseshit.

Bianchi brings up fireronzook.com and Zook answered this way:

“That’s my legacy to the profession,” he says. “I’m the first guy who had a FireTheCoach.com website. I had no chance. From the day I walked into the introductory press conference, I was fired.”

Wrong dipshit! You got fired because you're a dipshit that doesn't know how to coach. You could still be Florida coach today, all you had to do was WIN and keep the program clean. And what about Illinois? They were ecstatic when you were hired there. But you failed again because that's what you are, a failure. A failure and dipshit. Florida and Illinois made you very wealthy. You were a coach in big time college football. It ain't bean bag. I've never seen a whinier piece of garbage in my life.

Two years after Zook was axed, Meyer won the national title with 21 of 22 Zook recruits starting for the team. Zook still wonders what might have happened if he had been able to survive longer than 2½ years at UF. Would he have won a national title?

Oh please. Ron Zook was a terrible strategist and game day coach. His teams were undisciplined. That 2006 team would have lost 4 games instead of winning a BCS title.

The whole article was vomit inducing. To be a loser is one thing, to carry water for a loser is another. Bianchi, you suck.

FRZ Redux

I was recently contacted via email by a journalist writing a story about the whole fireyourcoach.com web site phenomenon. He had a couple of questions about this blog, asking if I was the original webmaster of fireronzook.com. I told him the truth which was, no. As I clearly state in the first post of this blog, this is a tribute to the original fireronzook.com site. Anyway I exchanged a couple of emails with the guy and he didn't even mention this blog in his piece. Oh well. I thought there was an interesting angle there but apparently not. Anyway, read the article and enjoy. Fact is that none of these other sites that has popped up has been as a big a success or had such a lasting impact as the original FRZ. Often imitated but never duplicated.

My condolences

Well folks, another Saturday and another Zooking loss for the Illini in the books. A 30-0 shut-out. Ouch. My heart really goes out to the fans and alums of the University of Illinois. It's now beginning to dawn on you that everything all of the Florida fans said was true.

There have been some comments on of the other posts here about the Illinois' rightful place in the world of college football. By and large most of the fans are resigned to the idea that Illinois can't really be a power and that Zook represented a chance at that with his "recruiting prowess" and that the Illini could never be the Gators. I disagree. Illinois is a big state school from a big state, playing in major conference with a lot of talent to be had. But you do need a coach who can recruit. And by that I mean a COACH who can recruit. Zook is not a coach. He's a recruiting coordinator at best. He can't strategize his way out of a wet paper bag.

A word of advice to your athletic director. When you finally decide to dump clown Zook, perhaps you should consider a young up-and-coming coach from a lesser school. Florida hired Steve Spurrier from Duke and Urban Meyer from Utah. Don't hire a failure from a more important football program. Look at the team that mopped up the floor with you today. They hired their coach from division 1AA.

And so it begins

For a variety of reasons I have had ZERO time to follow Zook's incoherent rambling and the travails of Illinois football much less post anything to this blog but a recent flurry of visits and a few comment awoke me from my slumber.

Zook and the boys shit the bed against Mizzou in the season opener.

Perfect.

But he recruited all of Florida's players, right?

Hahahahahahaha

Feel free to vent in the comments folks.

The stats don't lie

Decatur Herald

Illinois ranks last in the Big Ten in scoring defense (32.0 ppg), 10th in rushing defense (182.5 ypg) and 10th in total defense (384 ypg). Illinois is also last in defending on third down and 10th in turnover margin.

Zook's background is coaching defense. It shows.

Zook doesn't understand why Illinois lacks emotion

There's a lot of things that Zook doesn't understand. This is just one of them.

Here's a clue moRon, your team didn't almost choke against a far inferior opponent because of "emotion". Your team was ill prepared to play the game and your staff didn't help with its dumb play calling. UL-L should have no business being on the field with the Illini but you make any game with a third rate opponent competitive.

I think 9/27 is going to be Armageddon.

The Journey...

to nowhere.

Just caught the replay of the Ron Zook reality show. Of course it's a well-produced piece of propaganda and everything is hunky dory because it was shot before the first game. The Illini were still undefeated.

Zook doesn't come across as big of a dope as he really is, but it's early still. There was a part in of the show where a player tells an anecdote about Zook and how he demands that his players run everywhere even if they don't know where to go. Great idea. It's typical of Zook. It doesn't matter if what you are doing is wrong as long as you get there fast.

Another thing is how spoke about reaching the Rose Bowl as a major accomplishment without mentioning the total ass-kicking they took. He should have been impressing upon his players how they should want to avenge that embarrassment.

Brit Miller is funny. His game better be as good as his act.

Juice Williams looks like he's high when he's being interviewed.

It'll be interesting to watch the meltdowns that are sure to come.

P.S. In next week's episode Ron Zook explains how giving up half a hundy "is probably the best thing that could have happened to us."

Loser.

A glimpse into the mind of a loser

I've been searching high and low for the article below and finally found it. Reading this article is what began to turn me against Ron Zook when he was at Florida. I referred to this article in my very first post on this blog. To me it's the definitive Ron Zook article. I'm publishing it here in its entirety for posterity. Comments after the article. The underlining is mine.

Role reversal: Gators are ultimate underdogs
Web posted Tuesday, September 2, 2003
By Eddie Pells | Associated Press

GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- Something seems wrong here.

They won their opener by 62, they play at the fourth-biggest school in the country and their stable of tailbacks and receivers is as deep as it has been in years.

Yet outside of Gainesville - maybe in Gainesville, too - hardly anyone gives the Florida Gators a chance this weekend against No. 3 Miami.

"I'm just going to write all those critics a check," linebacker Travis Harris said. "Because they're not doing anything but motivating us."

If that's the case, the 21st-ranked Gators should have plenty of motivation coming from many places.

Start in Las Vegas, where they are 14 1/2 -point underdogs. A team that used to go entire seasons without being picked to lose is now the biggest underdog it has been since Florida State was favored by 16 1/2 in 1988, two years before Steve Spurrier arrived.

"You try not to look at the odds or anything, but it is kind of tough," offensive lineman Shannon Snell said.

The odds are what they are for several reasons, most of them legit.

Florida lost 41-16 to the 'Canes at home last year and 37-20 in the Sugar Bowl the season before.

The Gators are coming off a five-loss season, their worst since 1989.

Their quarterbacks - Ingle Martin, Chris Leak and Gavin Dickey - have virtually no experience. Leak and Dickey are freshmen and Martin is a sophomore who has barely played, and never started a game on the road. In fact, Florida's 65-3 win over San Jose State last week was the first time any of them had significant playing time.

Then, there is the so-called "talent gap," a touchy issue that both players and coaches dance around.

In an interview earlier this summer, coach Ron Zook said he remembered standing in the tunnel last year before the Miami game, looking across the field at the talented Hurricanes.

"I said to whoever was standing next to me, 'Fellas, in three years, we're going to look like that,"' he said.

On Tuesday, he wasn't playing the comparison game.

"I'll just say that they're a very, very talented football team," he said.

Offensive coordinator Ed Zaunbrecher described the problems more clearly.

"A lot of people have speed at some positions, but all of their guys are at the top of the charts," he said. "All their guys can run, and that minimizes the chance you have for a big play, because there's a hole there and it closes in a big hurry."

Of course, no coach or player goes into a game thinking there's no way he can win.

Several times this week, Zook has taken the rather outlandish stance of using last year's 25-point loss as a reason for optimism, talking about how things could have gone differently with a break here or there.

For instance, he says, the Gators blocked a punt deep in Miami territory and settled for a field goal and a 10-6 lead, instead of a touchdown and a 14-6 advantage. In the third quarter, Florida was driving for a touchdown that could have pulled the game within four. Instead, Maurice Sikes picked off a pass and ran 97 yards for a score that made it 34-16.

"That's a 14-point swing there," Zook said. "Who knows? If we score, with our crowd, and they start pressing a little bit, you never know."

Of course, the Gators are the Gators - a difficult season and a 25-point loss aren't going to take away all the swagger.

"I don't really see them as a favorite," defensive lineman Darrell Lee said. "Me, personally, I don't see them winning the game."

Zook doesn't want his players thinking they're a lost cause, but he has tempered his comments this week.

"Everyone knows how good they are," he said. "This is an opportunity to go down there, and not only show people where we are, but find out for ourselves where we are."

--From the Wednesday, September 3, 2003 online edition of the Augusta Chronicle

Now, to understand the significance of the quote I underlined I need to give you some background. Miami hates Florida and Florida hates Miami. For more on this click here. In any case, Florida had dropped Miami from its regular season schedule in 1987. In 2002 (the year before this article was written) the two teams were squaring off for only the second time since 1987. It was Zook's SECOND game and his first BIG game against a quality opponent. In 2002, Zook had the Heisman runner-up, Rex Grossman, as his starting QB. He had several players that would eventually end up on NFL rosters. Despite what Zook said, he did not inherit an empty cupboard at Florida. It was a home game in the Swamp.

Needless to say, the Gators got shellacked in that game, back in 2002. The score was 41-16. Florida went on to finish that first year under Zook with an 8-5 record.

Now fast forward to the week before the rematch down in Miami. The article above appeared in the paper. Remember the underlined passage:

...coach Ron Zook said he remembered standing in the tunnel last year before the Miami game, looking across the field at the talented Hurricanes.

"I said to whoever was standing next to me, 'Fellas, in three years, we're going to look like that,"' he said.

Zook admitted to believing he was overmatched against the Hurricanes in 2002 BEFORE THE GAME! This is classic Zook. Instead of worrying about the players had at that moment, he was thinking about what the future might look like. He wasn't thinking about ways to beat Miami, for him it was a foregone conclusion.

I don't know what's worse, that he thought those thoughts on that day in 2002, that he actually voiced them to someone on the sideline, or that he repeated them to a reporter a year later?

Unbelievable. This is one of the reasons I can't stand Zook.

In the 2003 game, in Miami, the Gators coughed up a huge halftime lead and lost the game in the closing minutes.

The perfect ending to this story is that in 2004, after Zook was fired and hired by Illinois, his defensive coordinator, Charlie Strong, coached Zook's Gators in the Peach Bowl against the Hurricanes. The team predictably lost 27-10. In three years Zook managed to lose three times to a rival the Gators had only played once in the previous 15.

Loser.

More typical Zook bullshit

Use them and dispose of them:

No. 1 pick unhappy
Rookie halfback Rashard Mendenhall expressed some dismay over what happened to his brother, Walter, who left the University of Illinois football team recently.

Walter Mendenhall got a scholarship to Illinois in 2004 in what was regarded at the time as a package deal to get his younger brother the following year, and it worked.

"Yeah, they did not want him to return," Rashard said yesterday.

"He would have been a fifth-year senior but he is graduating from Illinois and then he will be at Illinois State, getting his one-year master's."

Mendenhall did not seem happy with Illinois nor head coach Ron Zook over the situation.

"Yeah it upset me. But to tell you the truth, with how things were, it didn't surprise me too much because it just wasn't in our favor over there."

Your best player talking trash about you on his way out the door. Way to win friends and influence people Zook. I can't wait to watch the wheels fall off.

Another first for Zook

Well Illini fans, the Sporting News is reporting that Illinois football players just held their first players-only meeting in response to Ron Zook's spring program:

Illinois football coach Ron Zook says he and the other Illini coaches have pushed their players hard this spring, maybe a little too hard.

Zook says the team had a players-only meeting week before last, something that isn't always a good sign.

Players-only meetings became a staple for Zook at Florida where he was never able to instill discipline and respect for authority. But the Zooker, ever the optimist, tries to find the silver lining:

Zook wasn't initially sure what to think about the meeting, but he says he believes it's a sign of strong team leadership.

And he insists he still doesn't know what the players said.

Yeah, why would he know? It's not like he's the head coach being paid millions of dollars to know.

Have fun this season.

Losers.

Zook promises better days ahead...

Or does he?

"I don't think there's any question we'll be a better football team next year," Zook said. "Everyone wants to know: What does that mean?

"I said the second year we'd be a better team than the first and we were, but the record was the same (2-9 in '05, 2-10 in '06). So we will be a better team.

God, it's hard to take anything this moRon says seriously. But let's dissect. He promises the team will be better but he hedges by saying that improvement is not necessarily see in W-L record. You see his 2-10 team in 2006 was "better" than the 2-9 team from 2005. So a 9-4 team in 2008 could conceivably be better than a 9-4 team in 2007.

"Players will be better as juniors and seniors than they were as freshmen and sophomores. That's the way it is as they get experience."

Translation: Zook wouldn't be disappointed by another 9-3 record next season, because it could mean another BCS bowl berth. But it should be a better 9-3.

The thing is that Zook is enamored of his own recruits. You see he had seniors this year, but they weren't his seniors. He thinks that "his" recruits are simply going to yield better results. I'm not so sure. The best player on the Illini this year was Rashard Mendenhall who had committed to Illinois before Ron Turner was fired. And Mendenhall is likely to be playing Sundays next year. There's no doubt that Zook has shown an ability to bring in guys with lots of stars next to their names on the scouting web sites but we'll see how that translates into wins and losses. It's one thing to have diamonds in the rough and quite another to cut those diamonds into precious stones.

For the record I don't think Illinois will repeat a 9 win season next year.

We'll see who is right, me or the Zooker.

2 weeks until the unmasking

The thing I hate about college football is the dead period between the end of the regular season and the bowl games. We're now two weeks away from the unmasking of the biggest fraud in college football this year. Although I think USC is perennially overrated, the Illini are going to face their first really good opponent all season. I'd say that IIllinois' chances of winning are Slim to none, with Slim getting on the first train out of town. I think the Illini will be just be happy to be there. Zook, because he's Zook, won't be able to overcome that mentality in his players. Meanwhile the Trojans will be looking for redemption and trying to prove they got overlooked in the scramble to find a 2-loss team worthy of the BCS championship game.

Congrats Illini

You managed to back into the Grandaddy of them all, where you would have rightfully been playing if Zook only knew when to decline a penalty. OSU has slipped into the national championship game by default where it will take another epic beating at the hands of an SEC team. The Buckeyes are 0-9 against the SEC.

Likewise the Illini face a USC Trojans team that will finally be healthy and has been peaking. Although I think USC has been a media darling for the past few years I don't think there's any denying that Pete Carroll is a better coach than Zook (who isn't?) and that overall the staff at SC is better. In what will essentially be a home game for the Trojans the Illini will be mincemeat. Although I would have thoroughly enjoyed watching the Gators dismantle Illinois, USC will have to do.

Oh and I suppose I should be thankful to Illinois for allowing the Gators to have a chance to redeem their loss against Michigan in the Outback Bowl a few years back. That was a quintessential Zookian meltdown. The Gators score a TD early and Zook inexplicably goes for 2. Of course the Gators don't convert. Late in the game, with the Gators down by EIGHT, Grossman is driving down the field when the Gators attempt a play in which a freshman WIDE RECEIVER is throwing to the previous year's Heisman runner-up. Of course the ball was intercepted. Drive over. Game over. After all was said and done Zook could only say "Rex was open."

So enjoy it Zookheads. Maybe Zook will try that play against USC.

A loser's mentality illustrated

Brilliant ramblings of a loser from Illini Board

I'm going to call this a 2nd place finish

I know this season is going to go down as a third place finish in the Big Ten because we lose the tiebreaker to Michigan, but I'm going to go ahead and call it a 2nd place finish and challenge anyone (read: Michigan fans) who says otherwise. Lets compare Illini/Wolverine seasons:

-Illinois lost three games total, Michigan lost four. Advantage: Illinois

-Both teams lost to one team they definitely should have beaten. Illinois lost to Iowa and Michigan lost to Appalachian State. Michigan's loss was on their home field to a IAA team. Advantage: Illinois

-Both teams lost to one solid team that they definitely could have beaten. Illinois lost to Michigan and Michigan lost to Wisconsin. Illinois' was a head to head loss as well as a home field loss. Advantage: Michigan

-Both teams lost to one very good team. Illinois lost to Missouri and Michigan lost to Oregon. Michigan lost by a lot more on their home field. Advantage: Illinois

-In the Big Ten, Illinois didn't play Purdue or Michigan State. Michigan didn't play Northwestern or Iowa. The teams Illinois didn't play went a combined 6-10 in conference play, the teams Michigan didn't play went a combined 7-9 in conference play. Advantage: Michigan

So, of the five biggest differentiating factors between Illinois' and Michigan's seasons, Illinois looks more impressive in three of them. Add in the fact that we are more impressive in what I think is the most important factor (total wins), and it seems clear that the Illini are the superior team.

Don't let any effing Michigan fan tell you otherwise.

Notice how he tries to downplay the fact that MICHIGAN BEAT ILLINOIS HEAD TO HEAD!

The two teams have identical conference records and Michigan beat Illinois, end of story.

He tries to bring non-conference results into the equation. There's a reason they are called non-conference games.

The reason I bring this imbecility to your attention is simply to illustrate how the loser mentality is so ingrained in Illini fans that they grasp at straws, twist logic and rationalize their way being happy.

Like I said earlier, these dumbasses shouldn't be grinning about their 9 win season they should be pissed that it wasn't 10 or 11. The team the Illini beat will be going to the Rose Bowl as Big Ten champs. Fucking douchebags deserve Zook.

The season that could have been - UPDATED

Illini fans are happy. They should be, after going 4-19 in Zook's first two seasons the Illini are 8-3 overall and 5-2 in the Big 10. But the reality is that as nice as this season has been for them the Illini missed an opportunity for something even bigger. The two conference losses came at the hands of Iowa and Michigan, both games where there were plenty of questionable coaching decisions.

If Zook only knew when to decline a penalty, the Illini would have more than likely beaten Iowa, a hated rival that has poached more than its fair share of recruits out of Illinois over the last few years. Winning that game would have meant a 3-way tie today with Michigan and Ohio State. An OSU win over Michigan today would have catapulted Illinois to the Rose Bowl.

And truth be told, there's no reason that Illinois couldn't have beaten Michigan too. Even if the Big 10 is weak this year, a conference championship is a conference championship. So instead of Pasadena it looks like Tampa or Orlando. Believe me folks, there's a big difference.

Oh and by the way, yes ,I did turn the comments off. I have better things to do with my time than read the irrational ramblings of a bunch of idiots. I'll turn them back on when Illinois reverts to Zookian form and the losers have nothing to say.

UPDATE: With OSU beating Michigan 14-3, you really have to say that Zook declined the Big Ten championship when he accepted those two penalties against Iowa. There will be a lot of rationalization among Illini fans. Without Zook they wouldn't have been in a position to flush a Big 10 Championship down the toilet, they will say. You see there is an irrational idea that there was only one man to hire when RT got fired a couple of years ago. There simply was no candidate out there could coach as well as recruit. There is a saying in politics, we deserve our leaders. And for Illinois this couldn't be more true. Enjoy it folks. I don't think the schedule can be as favorable next season as it was this season.

Back to Reality

Illinois is bowl eligible. Woopee! Enjoy it. Already some Zookheads have dropped by claiming that this is proof that Zook is a better coach than Urban Meyer. After all the Illini have already clinched bowl eligibility while the Gators are still one win away. What those geniuses won't tell you is that the Gators have played one less game to date.

The next argument is that Meyer can't win without Zook's players. Check yourselves Illini fans. Meyer didn't need "Zook's players" when he rebuilt two programs from scratch at Bowling Green and Utah. And anyone who knows a damned thing about the Gators knows entering the season the Gators only had 21 upperclassmen on scholarship. That junior and senior class should be chock full of "Zook's players", but where are they? Oh they must have washed out because of academics, discipline problems or because they just couldn't play. Either way it's more of an indictment on Zook than Meyer.

Lastly, remember that water always seeks its own level. Urban Meyer has a career record of 66-15 (.815) while Zook has a record of 33-36 (.478). While the records are similar this year, my bet is that in the long term past performance will be the best indicator of future performance.

So enjoy your trip to the Poulan Weedeater Bowl. That's what differentiates the programs. You guys will be ecstatic to be there, while Florida expects much greater things.

Illiniboard Predictions

Was just checking out the predictions for the Illini's Ball State game over at Illiniboard.com. They range from one brave soul who predicts a Ball State upset 28-27 to the guy who predicts a 59-10 romp for the Illini.

I took an average of the 22 predictions I saw and the consensus is 36-21, Illinois.

They are predicting Illinois to score 10 more points than their average and Ball State to score 13 less than their average.

On the flip side they are predicting Illinois to score 10 points more than Ball State usually allows and for Ball State to score about a point and a half more than Illinois usually allows.

We'll see whether these poor man's Nostradamuses are right. I'm guessing that this will be a close game somewhere in the low 30s.

What they are saying

Some feedback about last night's game from around the internets. First up DJ Magnificent gives a great wrap up:

Poor old Zook may be the worst head coach in the history of Big Ten football. The poor bastard has no control over his players and as a game manager he is simply horrible.

For a man who was a special teams coach in the NFL and at Florida, Illinois' special teams were horrendous tonight, as well as every other game. Their punter averaged about 37 yards per punt, their punt return man muffed a routine catch in the fourth quarter that proved to be the critical play in the game and they missed a short field goal. The only bright spot was a 63 yard kick-off return to start the game.

Amazingly, the special teams are not the worst component of the team. Without a doubt, Zook's QB shuffling has limited the development of both Juice Williams and Eddie McGee. Poor Juice has superior talent but has no chance of going to the NFL as a QB because of his atrocious coaching. They claim he has all of the physical tools but lacks confidence. Really? How confident would you be if you were routinely pulled from the game for your backup and given only 14 pass attempts. Navy's QB passes more than that per game! Zook's offense is a hybrid piece of shit. Either commit to the spread, commit to the option, or commit to an I-form running attack. When you run the douche offense that Zook runs, Juice gets 14 pass attempts, McGee get 12 pass attempts and the team's best player, Rashard Mendenhall only gets 18 carries. The guy was averaging 4.7 yards per carry. Perhaps he should have had 30-35 carries. But you can't do that with your shit offense.

Then there's Chicago Sun Times Columnist, Greg Couch's opinion:

Youth, or just stupidity?

But you have to wonder if this was more than just a young team playing green. I mean, this was a game defined by Illinois' stupidity in Football 101. The Illini beat Wisconsin this year when the Badgers were ranked No. 5 in the nation. And now they don't know any better than this?

These are things you should have ironed out in practice by now.

''You don't teach facemask and holding penalties,'' Zook said. ''But when you teach guys to be aggressive, it is going to happen.''

It didn't happen to Michigan.

This is the burden for Zook, isn't it? Illinois was awful three years ago, when he arrived. And already it is having big games. That's all because of him.

Yet, he came here from Florida known as the guy who can outrecruit anyone but can't outcoach a paper bag.

So we look for evidence.

Last week's loss at Iowa sure looked like a victory for the paper bag. And while it didn't show up in strategy this time, it showed up in preparation, smarts.

Sean at Michigan Sports Center shows his gratitude:

*Thank you, Chad Henne, for going out there and playing great despite being injured in one form or another
*Thank you, Mike DeBord, for calling that trick play to score the go-ahead touchdown
*Thank you, Adrian Arrington, for being able to receive and throw touchdowns
*Thank you, Carlos Brown and Brandon Minor, for filling in for Mike Hart and doing a solid job
*Thank you, K.C. Lopata, for being able to kick field goals
*Thank you, Illinois punt returner, for muffing that punt to allow Michigan to score the go-ahead touchdown
*And finally, thank you, Ron Zook, for being Ron Zook

And last but not least, Orson Swindle from the wildly popular Every Day Should be Saturday says:

The UCLA of the Big Ten called Michigan, who was losing to lesser competition before it was even cool, poseurs, is also undefeated in conference after stubborn met dumb in the Michigan/Illinois game. The Illini committed several very, very ill-advised penalties and miscues including a roughing the kicker, an interference penalty, and a dropped punt giving Michigan another chance to score. Oh, and Michigan scored on a trick play, proving someone put acid in Lloyd Carr’s Metamucil Saturday morning. Debord! In my office now! Get that octopus in a top hat off my wall NOW!

For a Florida fan, it was like being a Frenchman watching the last chopper flying off the roof of the U.S. Embassy. “Well, monsieur, we have zeen zis kind of thing happen before…”

Lessons from the past

I was just perusing some of the old content at the original fireronzook.com web site. The reason is that just like the bible you can always find something there that seems to suit the present situation. History repeats itself, you see. Anyway, a regular feature of FRZ was the sermons given by "Mike in NYC". Here's a few excerpts from a sermon after a home loss to Tennessee back in 2003. Let's see if you notice some eerie similarities:

How do we waste so much talent, I kept looking down at Zook running around the sideline screaming like a....like a SPECIAL TEAMS COACH and I once again knew that this sight was justified in everything we ever said.

It's like letting a kindergarten kid try to drive the bus to school ... I mean sure he's been on a bus and seen how it runs and stuff but the kid just doesn't have the capacity to drive it. That's just like Zook, he can't do it. It's obvious! Look at him during a game. No other head coach does what Zook does. He has no control of the sideline. We got a flag for that Saturday! He has no ability to manage a clock and he calls plays like he is reaching into a grab bag and just doing whatever play he pulls out, no matter what the situation.

I applaud the fans at Florida Field Saturday. It was hot as hell and they kept cheering, kept trying to spark the team but nothing could help a team caged in by a buffoon offensive coordinator and a clown head coach who is ultimately responsible for his assistants. The defense was on the field for hours, the QB rotation, the running back rotation, the receiver rotation is a total joke and everyone knew it. I looked at the offensive huddle during a TV timeout on the sideline; there must have been 20 guys in it. WHY? Do we get extra points for player participation? Zook here is some advice, MAKE A DECISION! Keep the players who perform the best on the field!

Martin finally drives us down the field and Zook rewards Tennessee by taking him out!!! WHY? I guess we wanted the hot hand out of the game? I hate to be the one to let the Florida coaches in on a little secret, we run the exact same plays with Ingle Martin and Chris Leak. So defenses prepare the exact same way for both. How different is Martin throwing a wide receiver screen opposed to Leak throwing a wide receiver screen?

Why after every Ben Troupe catch does he get up and run immediately off the field? IS HE TOO GOOD??? I saw him stay on once! He was running to the sideline and they waved him back into the huddle. You know how people blast Dave Wannstedtt for not giving the ball to their best player (Ricky Williams). Why don't people blast Zook for how he handles Ben Troupe?

Illini fans will recognize the patterns in the above passages. The clueless look on Zook's face. The personnel decisions and substitution patterns that don't seem to make sense (can't settle on a QB). Inability to get the ball in the hands of the playmakers (in Illinois case it's Benn). Terrible and seemingly random play calling.

The hallmark of a losing program

If you ever wanted to see thinking the pervades in the minds of the fans of a losing program, then you must read this thread at Illiniboard. The overwhelming sentiment is that even though Illinois has lost two very winnable games, they are "ahead of schedule". If you had high expectations this season "it's your problem." Many are "happy to be 5-3" despite the fact that the team probably has the talent to win the Big 10 in a year that traditional powers aren't that good. Michigan is down and OSU is untested to date. The Big 10 championship was there for taking but Zook declined it by accepting a penalty he shouldn't have and by playing musical chairs with his quarterbacks.

I still don't understand the psychology of a loser. They call their own fans and alums "front runners" for wanting their team to win winnable games.

The beautiful thing is that I get to live all of this again, but only vicariously this time. It's a lot sweeter to see this tragedy befall someone else. It's like finally dumping that lousy cheating wife and watching the next guy fall into the trap. If that guy is a jerk, even better. And Illinois fans are for the most part jerks. Kool-aid drinking jerks.