ChicagoSportsBlogs : Non Compete

Chant it with me boys and girls! The Fighting Illini have accomplished something that has never happened before in the school's history: They have made a final! I am happy to report I have been missing in action these past days because of this amazing run of tourney games. I just haven't had a moment to write about it. If you haven't figured it out yet, my final four this year was: Illinois, Louisville, Florida, and Duke. What a way to pick em, right? I could not repeat last year's successful pick of all four teams. But I did get two of them, and after this evening's game in St. Louis I think I will have the winner too.

Bruce Weber and team have produced some great wins during their run. I can atest to this first hand. I was in the building last Thursday night when the Illini took the Milwaukee team for a ride. It was an exciting game. Especially since the old Horizon is tiny. It was covered in a sea of Orange shirts. I have pictures to post (soon). I was also there to see what Illinois would be up against in an Arizona team that stole it from Oklahoma St. that night. Mr. Stoudamire, of the Arizona Stoudamire line (seriously, if your last name is Stoudamire and you don't go to Arizona write to us) has ICE in his veins. It was an amazing finish to an amazing night. We were all nervous walking out of the building. During the second game, we didn't know who to cheer for. Both of those teams were going to give us a hard time. It turns out it was harder than we could have imagined. That's what makes this final so much more special. With 4 minutes left in last Saturday's game against Arizona I sent a text message to my brother who was at the game.(yea, I know, lucky bastard). The message went like this: THYR DUN.

I sent that message when Arizona's lead peaked at 15 points. It's a good thing that they didn't listen to me. I suggest you all Tivo the game tonight. One last bit of advice to the team: Roy Williams can't win the big one unless Danny Manning steps onto the court again. We all know that ain't happening. Good luck Illinois! Help us erase the memory of Glen Rice!