Mark of Fridays: I-L-L ugh-hiss-boo

Well, it's November and that means another trip to Champaign for the sheer torture of watching Illinois football. Thankfully, good friends show up, too. Otherwise, the pigskin follies might be overwhelming.

After a one-year hiatus, it was back to Chambana to see the Illini play the hapless Minnesota Golden Gophers. You'll notice that the team was not called the "Fighting" Illini. Alas, there was no fight in the team this year. In addition to being 400 degrees below zero, Illinois found a way to lose to a one-win Gopher team that was ranked among the 10 worst teams in all of college football. That's hard to do.

There was some thought that perhaps children should not be exposed to Illini football. Fear not: most of them spent the game safely tucked away in their hotel rooms.

It was a great weekend and Matt was very grateful that so many people were willing to travel far and pay ludicrous prices for average hotels so everyone could hang out. Seeing all the kids was not only fun, but reminded all the dads of how very, very ancient they are. (10 years out of college!) Thankfully, all of the wives still see the guys as the young, vibrant, agile He-Men they married.

All in all: a great trip. Looking forward to losing to St. Mary's School for the Misdirectional next year!

As far as the pictures, at the top right is Mark and Elyse Theoharis. To the left is Michael and Katelyn Farmer, Elyse and Mark. The irony here is that all the dads had the exact same expressions as the kids. Nathaniel/Kramer was even wearing a similar top.

One last note. Here's the record at UFW's.
2000: Michigan 35, Illinois 31
2001: Illinois 33, Penn State 28
2002: San Jose State 38, Illinois 35
2003: Wisconsin 38, Illinois 20
2004: Michigan 30, Illinois 19
2005: Michigan State 61, Illinois 14
2006: Iowa 24, Illinois 7

2007: Illinois 31, Wisconsin 26

2008: Illinois 55, Indiana 13

2009: Cancelled on account of babies

2010: Minnesota 34, Illinois 30

That's 3-6 through 9 games.

And that doesn't even count a Bears loss to the Saints in 2002 and an Illini basketball loss last year. We're like a reverse horseshoe!

In other, non-wedding news

This is not an update on pink limos, or music selection, or flowers, or cake, or tastings, or dresses, or rings, or John Dillinger (bet you thought that would say Johnny Depp!) or Illini football.
This post is quite simply about good news.
The first piece of good news is that Lynne recently had her year-end review and to say it went well would be a massive understatement.
Quite frankly, the head of the department and the vice principal say she's a superstar. They love her style and demeanor and composure with the kids. This is no joke: they are going to videotape her and show it to new teachers as the right way to run a class. That's as big as compliments get.

Other good news, including some (very to only somewhat) belated congratulations:
Belated congratulations to Luke and Tracy, who got engaged and will be getting married this summer. Matt went to college with Luke and thinks he made a great choice. But you have to question Tracy's judgement, saying 'yes' to a Twins fan, don't you?

And very belated congratulations to Katelyn, for meeting her fantastic parents, Dave and Angela, and her brother 2-year-old Michael. Lynne and Matt finally got to meet Katelyn recently - what a fantastic little girl and great family.

And congratulations to Kevin and Angie, who are "with child," as the kids are saying. A fantastic couple who will make fantastic parents.

As long as we're talking babies, congratulations to Mark and Kate(s) who have a beautiful new baby girl, Phoebe Joanne.

And congratulations to the Mets for being so awesomely great.
As long as we're talking baseball, did you know Matt has another blog now? He's addicted. He kept it a secret because it. is. so. very. nerdy. But, if you're so inclined and love baseball cards, enjoy.

And congratulations to Lynne's sister, Laura, who got a fantastic internship at the prestigous Marco Island resort. Apparently, unlike many of her Western Illinois classmates, Laura had several offers for internships. It's not surprise a lot of people wanted to hang out with her - she's a blast. If it weren't for this pesky wedding Lynne and Matt would definitely be visiting.

More good news to share? Post it below!