Enough is enough at Illinois

Ya i agree! Beenthere, why dont you go apply for a coaching job and whip that program in to shape.

Kenny,

I just don't understand what they're trying to do at Illinois. Whatever it is, it hasn't worked. Same thing at Northwestern.

Wouldn't it be nice to have two of the finest schools in Illinois and in the nation have competitive baseball programs?

I know that they've spent a ton of money at Illinois to upgrade the facilities and add lights, etc. Now how about the quality of the players they recruit to compete in the Big 10/11? We're not asking that they compete at the national level...they can't even compete in the Big 10/11!!!! Some of the biggest schools in the nation in terms of numbers of students. Some of the worst baseball teams.

How about Iowa deciding not to play Bradley because of the mascot, the "Braves"...never mind that the Hawkeyes couldn't beat our own Colin Walker!

Oh, well. Keep up the good work with the bat.

i think the above comment is very out of line and shows ignorrance on your part TAR, just the sheer fact that you mention of somebody crying "race" for everything shows that you have a prejudice. i am of no minority but still take offense to the fact that you can't give any repurcussion for thousands of years of repression.

Laidlow...I'm not defending TAR, but he's entitled to his opinion.

I'm not responsible for slavery since I was born in Lithuania. I don't believe I owe anything to slave descendents. Reparations...Nonsense. I came over on the boat as a refugee and they called my mother a "dumb dp" because she couldn't speak the language. No one cared about my mom and me and my sister. The Nazis/Germans persecuted us and we haven't seen a penny!

As a Catholic, I have all I can do to pay off the victims of the priests "playing" with little boys!

I'm just disappointed that they don't provide an explanation on how to use the pay phone in the Lithuanian language as they do in Spanish.

Tar, You had me up and cheering while reading your most accurate and incisive reply to Laidlaw. The list of issue switching liberals to blame for all this sh** is lengthy. Start with the NY Times and their editorial page. Add in the news anchors for the big 3 and we're well on our way to the ridiculous situations that you so correctly referred to. I, proudly, am a member of a religious minority in this country but so what. My ancestors came to Ellis Island with nothing but the clothes on their backs and maybe 1 suitcase. They stressed education and a quick learning of the English language and the rest is history. Iowa refusing to play at Bradley and the ridiculous noise that the 'Illini 20' make over Chief Illiniwek surely would make Thomas Jefferson cry. It should make us all cry.

Tar, check your PM.

Man this thread has gone into the toliet, clean it up! What does this have to do with Itchy and U of I baseball?

btil, lets put screwy on a short lease if you allow any more of his posts at all. screwy, i suggest walk a mile in some of those shoes you think hate you so much. it will become clear your statement is a ridiculous exaggeration...........oh by the way, nine others in the big 10 have similar records to UI. This conference is over-rated. in deference to my friend Rosy i wont mention which professional chicago team is overated!!

FLASH! U of I spanks D3 Blackburn 6-5.

FYI,

A quick analysis on the U of I roster reveals 34 players on the current roster. 15 players (44%) are from the greater Chicagoland area. 12 players (35%) are from other parts of Illinois and 7 players (21%) are from out of state.

tar, just playing a d2 or d3 team brings the rpi down to the point where the REAL programs won't do it unless its a favor to a friend or long standing tradition. since the coaches are aware of this, one of the first indications of an intent to improve a teams rpi would be to shed the little sisters approach. a quick look at the top 20 rpi ratings will reveal very few d2-3 cupcakes on any of those schedules. in other words itchy knows the consequbces and doesn't care.

BigMW...Interesting but virtually NONE of those kids were the big names at the time.

Only that Dusty Bensko (sp) from Pleasant Plains was highly regarded.

BeenthereIL,

I purposely didn't say anything about the level of capability of the recruited players since U of I's record speaks for itself.

I guess the purpose of my post was to point out they do recruit in the Chicagoland area. You're correct, the actual players recruited as well as the recruiting percentages are debateable....

FYI,

An analysis on the University of Illinois Chicago roster lists a total of 31 players. 13 players (42%) are from the greater Chicagoland area. 3 players (10%) are from other parts of Illinois and 15 players (48%) are from out of state.

The following will attempt to post all the information for the major DI's in Illinois. Hopefully this will work!

University......#CAP...%CAP...#ILO...%ILO...#OOS...%OOS...TOT
U of I............15.....44.....12.....35......7.....21....34
U of I Chicago....13.....42......3.....10.....15.....48....31
Illinois State....19.....53.....11.....30......6.....17....36
Eastern...........18.....53.....13.....38......3......9....34
Northern..........25.....69......5.....14......6.....17....36
Western............9.....28.....14.....44......9.....28....32
Southern...........6.....21.....10.....36.....12.....43....28
Bradley...........10.....34.....11.....38......8.....28....29
Northwestern......15.....53......1......4.....12.....43....28
TOTALS...........130.....45.....80.....28.....78.....27...288

Where:
#CAP = # of Chicago Area Players
%CAP = % of Chicago Area Players
#ILO = # of other Illinois Players
%ILO = % of other Illinois Players
#OOS = # of Out of State Players
%OOS = % of Out of State Players
TOT = Total # of rostered players

Sorry folks, it doesn't like multiple spaces and using "." doesn't seem to help properly align the data either.

TARatko,

The SW burbs may very well represent the best quality HS baseball teams in the state but that doesn't negate the fact there are many other quality individual players in the Chicagoland area and throughout the state.

I heard a rumor that 3 of their pitchers are out with major arm/shoulder surgeries including a Tommy John surgery. Is that true? Doesn't say much for their coaching staff!

U of I was scouting Larson from LWCentral the other day. (along with about 9 other schools and ml scouts).

TARatko,

Perhaps you're right. I didn't compile the list based on HS conference. To me it did seem like I encountered a fair share of south and southwest suburban community names during my excercise.

There are so many other variables to consider, like guys opting to play where they're wanted in DII, DIII, NAIA or NJCAA programs or playing in another (hopefully warmer environment) state or wanting to go pro, etc. instead of waiting around to get the "Itch". This is also coupled with their educational requirements. There does seem to be some great NAIA and NJCAA ball around the area. These options not only offer competitive ball but also foot the bill for more educational expenses to boot.

Score I know one of their pitchers in particular, Reily Smith from Lake Forest had a 4 inch screw put in his elbow and will still need another surgery. He would have been drafted but now he has decided not to return for his senior year as a redshirt.

Wow...Best wishes to Smith and here's hoping he could still play golf beyond high school.

score....19....

There is a "certain" pitcher in the minor leagues that went to U of I, and had similar arm problems. In short, after graduation, he laid-off for a year, and went on a vigorous training program to gain arm strength and fortunately for him was able to get a'shot' a pro ball.

He said that the pitchers work on "short rest", pitch 4,5 or 6 innings and then maybe pitch again the next day for 2, 3 or 4!! Sometimes would pitch 3 times in a week. Talk about abuse!!!!

Just saw this one and thought it was funny that on the 2006 schedule, they played (3) D3 teams and 3 games vs Dartmouth and 1 vs Yale. Not sure that Dartmouth won 10 games this season.

would you think it was funny if your son was still playing at illinois?

Lets no forget that Illinois almost dropped one to Robert Morris this year and they were using their "A" lineup for the most part.

Illinois also produced a high draft choice in Lars Davis among other draftees. I know the Big10 gets bashed around a lot by some folks but they acquitted themselves nicely in this past NCAA tournament imho.

The Illini have a very, very good recruiting class coming in for next year with McMurray, Chmielewski, and Cappetta. They also just signed another All-State '07 from Kansas. They also have Crosby unless he signs.

quote:

Originally posted by J.Weaver #5:
The Illini have a very, very good recruiting class coming in for next year with McMurray, Chmielewski, and Cappetta. They also just signed another All-State '07 from Kansas.

They also had Crosby until he was drafted and signed.

When did Crosby sign???just saw him at Illinois State on Saturday

I had heard that he did, but it's very possible he didn't. Ill edit my post to account for that.

...and he was at ISU? ...now I really wish I was able to make it down there with my team. I would have loved to catch a game that he pitched.

EDIT: Just read this article : http://www.kcchronicle.com/articles/2007/06/19/sports/p...962a59b847150910.txt

It looks to me that he will sign, but the process is going to be delayed by several factors.