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!

Indiana still has a football team?

Ah, the Ultimate Football Weekend. Or, as it is sometimes known, the annual Josh and Megan Humiliation Game. Last year, Illinois did pretty well. Remember that?
But certainly Josh had learned his lesson. He couldn't really root for the team in red, could he?
He could. He did. Well how'd that work out?
Matt thinks it worked out pretty well. Like 55-13 well.
That's right, the Orange ran wild all over the Red again this year. It was a massacre, right from the beginning. You might think a result like that would deflate the visiting team, discourage them or - heck - just give them pause. But, nay, not the Indiana Hoosier band! Each time - each and every single time - Indiana got a first down, they'd launch into some sort of torturous fight song. Bwahaa be bah be bahhhhhh be BAHHHHHH. Merciless.
Even Megan and Josh had fun at the game, it is believed. Sadly, Lynne lost interest pretty quickly. Even from the second row, the blowout meant she was thinking about other things. Like practicing saying the name of Illini's massive tight end Michael Hoomanawanui. Uh-oh, ma now a noowie!!
But the weekend was about more than football. It was about realizing how old we were. It was about realizing how glad we were that the game started at 7 p.m., and how we all pretty wanted to go to bed immediately afterward. It was about realizing that Legends - Legends! - has a life-sized Chief inside. (Very sad, Matt'll never step foot in there again. Probably.) It was about seeing the Jazz and the Bulls play a game in...Champaign? (Odd, but cool.) It was about grillmaster Dave and stretching the babysitter's hours and Lynne abdicating the Oreo crown to...who remembers that sort of thing when you're this old?
Anyhow, it was another great weekend with great friends, including people who flew in from Colorado and Texas, and drove in from Iowa and Wisconsin. Matt was both thrilled and honored that everyone took time out of very busy schedules to visit. Yet another reminder this year how lucky Matt is to be surrounded by great friends.
But the fact is Matt should have written this post right after the game, as he intended to. Instead, Matt waited until after Illinois lost to Wisconsin and then WESTERN MICHIGAN. The Western Michigan Broncos?!? Ugh. From the Rose Bowl to losing to the MAC second place squad.
Butkus, Grange, Mendenhall vs. Jason Babin and John Harbaugh. Again with the torturing, I see.
Looks like it's back to the .commers for the Illini. Insight.com Bowl. GarbageRemoval.com Bowl. Com.com Bowl. The possibilities are .com less.