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.

Schadenfreude courtesy of Illiniboard.com

A few items lifted from my favorite Illini forum in thread entitled Iowa's sideline has a laugh on Zook:

To be honest, I think Zook has trouble figuring out nuanced decisions on the spot. It is almost like he needs an Angel saying, "Ron, you really don't want to to that in this situation." Regardless, at the rate he is bringing talent in, before long the team will be able to succeed in spite of bonker game day decisions.

The word nuanced and Zook have never appeared on the same page anywhere before, of that I can assure you loyal readers. And yes what you need to hope for is that he can recruit players that will overcome stupid decisions. I foresee many "player only" meetings in Illinois' future, where it is decided that occasionally the game plan will have to be ripped out of the hands of the staff. You will also end up beating some teams you shouldn't but the flip side is losses like Saturday's to teams with inferior talent. In response to the above another smart poster says:

If you think talent is a panacea for bonker game time decisions I give you Lloyd Carr, the man who has done less with more than anyone.

Yes indeed. Here's the thing, 3 years ago Illini fans would have killed to be in the position they are in now. They said as much. It didn't matter that Zook couldn't coach lick. He would bring in talent and talent is what the doctor ordered. But it's a double edged sword and while being 5-2 is nice, it's not as nice as being 6-1 or 7-0, both of which were within the realm of possibility for this team. The point is that a coach needs to coach, not just recruit. Losing this type of game will get old pretty quick. Florida fans just weren't used to it. Illinois fans will have a little more patience, hell they have already exhibited it. But how much more remains to be seen.

The Zook Era Illustrated

Click on the image to enlarge. Notice the following:

1. The look on Albert the Alligator's face when Zook takes over at the entrance to "the tunnel of losing".

2. Zook looking for a brawl on the front lawn of the Pi Kap house.

3. The state of Mississippi: 3, Zook: 0