My favorite quote remains that of John L. Smith: "What are they selling?" We're going to miss him.

Just like the Big Televen occasionally passive-resistance courting Notre Dame. "What are they selling?"
Joe | Email | Homepage | 02.18.07 - 2:28 pm | #

I'm really getting sick of this Delaney guy. Someone needs to kick him in the balls really hard.
Brad | Email | Homepage | 02.18.07 - 2:39 pm | #

My good friend Phil is the greatest Michigan fan I've ever met, and consistently beats their beat writer's regarding what the Blue are up to athletically (and he lives in South Florida, to boot). Anyway, he made a casual aside to me weeks ago about Zook and, er, "possible irregularities." I learned long ago that the best sources are seldom the names in the paper. Plus, if Phil ('Dr.K' to insiders) tossed out that statement, it came from the bowels of the Wolverine world.

Personally, I could not care less if Zook or Delaney (or Bonnie, for that matter) point the finger at Notre Dame, the Pope, the Trilateral Commission, or Emil T. Hoffman.

My concerns are that AA's leg is healing, that JC's arm is ok, that our special teams get attention, and that DJ is set to take snaps, and do something with them, come September.

[fyi: 20 "w's for the roundballers today]

Go Irish
Anonymous | Email | Homepage | 02.18.07 - 4:32 pm | #

I blame the evil Pentavarent.

Oh, you're gonna buy my chicken!
Brad | Email | Homepage | 02.18.07 - 4:58 pm | #

Brad was that in a thick Scottish accent?
Domer Dan | Email | Homepage | 02.18.07 - 8:26 pm | #

If Delany is holding mum on Big 10 school letters to him to fuel the innuendo that ND is the culprit does Gene Smith (OSU AD and ND alum)channel info. quietly to ND or does it suit him to remain silent because ND is a recruiting competitor and also because of his loyalty to his employer's conference? What does an ND man do in this situation?
PZ | Email | Homepage | 02.18.07 - 9:46 pm | #

Mr. Delaney's comment about the SEC will probably start The Second Civil War. Look for confederate forces under Richt to start moving north any day now.
Fighting Binny | Email | Homepage | 02.18.07 - 10:38 pm | #

Emil T. Hofmann just might control the world from his bench. He's powerful that way.
Klug | Email | Homepage | 02.18.07 - 11:40 pm | #

Anybody else think that Delaney looks like an evil James Taylor? You know, the sort of guy that would beat his wife. . . um, sort of like the real James Taylor?
DCDomer | Email | Homepage | 02.19.07 - 12:54 am | #

Hey, ease up on James Taylor. He's seen lonely times when he could not find a friend.
Brad | Email | Homepage | 02.19.07 - 7:53 am | #

The confederate forces wouldn't be led by Richt but by a certain coach O.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6...h? v=63PnSDrGHRw

sorry, had to do it.
Schultz | Email | Homepage | 02.19.07 - 8:37 am | #

I knew Gene Smith at ND. In my opinion, he's ideally suited to be at tOSU.
seymour 85 | Email | Homepage | 02.19.07 - 9:51 am | #

I haven't read all the articles, but has IL actually accused Notre Dame yet, or are people just assuming? In Jay's post, the quotes end after "...real culprit" and then he writes 'namely Notre dame.' Who named Notre Dame? Is that Jay's assumption, or was he paraphrasing an article that I haven't read yet? I'd hate for us to perpetuate and exacerbate "innuendo."
Erik '04 | Email | Homepage | 02.19.07 - 10:30 am | #

I don't think anyone from IL has actually come out and said ND, only reporters have actually attached the name with the annonymous, non-Big10 school that IL has referred to.
Anonymous | Email | Homepage | 02.19.07 - 11:08 am | #

I'm not sure, but I sincerely doubt the "anonymous, non-Big10 Midwest school" was Ball State, Northern Illinois, Miami of Ohio or Western Michigan.
Brad | Email | Homepage | 02.19.07 - 11:23 am | #

I don't think anyone from IL has actually come out and said ND, only reporters have actually attached the name with the annonymous, non-Big10 school that IL has referred to.

Anonymous, midwesterm non-Big 10 school.
DJ | Email | Homepage | 02.19.07 - 11:23 am | #

Whoops, sorry about the typo on "midwestern."
DJ | Email | Homepage | 02.19.07 - 11:24 am | #

The SEC AD's are beginning to get fed up with how Jim Delaney is preventing a plus one from occuring; in fact it is the UF AD who is going to propose to the next SEC AD conference for a plus one.

I'd be interested to see how this thing with Jim Delaney witholding info shakes out. He is already seen as the one man stopping a plus one, if someone gets information that he is protecting schools from probation, that may be enough for the NCAA to go after his a$$.

BGS, guys there was an article in the NYT talking about how television markets in conferences directly correlate to conference power and how the Big 10 is so powerful, dig it up and give it a read, it was quite good (Dec 31 2006).
HMFIC | Email | Homepage | 02.19.07 - 11:35 am | #

Thanks for the clear-up on the ND allusion. Midwestern non-Big10 school really doesn't leave many options I guess.
Erik '04 | Email | Homepage | 02.19.07 - 11:57 am | #

Erik,

Illinois has not gone on the record as such accusing ND, preferring to let the reporters carry their water instead. Check the quotes below for examples (Greenstein: "Illinois officials wouldn't acknowledge it, but there's little doubt they suspect Notre Dame is behind the accusations." Bianchi: "This is typical Golden Dome arrogance. How could high-and-mighty Notre Dame lose a recruit to those lowly bumpkins in Illinois?")
Jay | Email | Homepage | 02.19.07 - 12:29 pm | #

HMFIC, I recall that article. I'll give it another read.
Jay | Email | Homepage | 02.19.07 - 12:29 pm | #

People, we are overlooking the obvious.

Illinois is using a tactic that many many media outlets have optimized.

By bringing ND into the conversation, it help LEGITIMIZE the little illinois indians as a big time recruiting program.

Think of the conversations Zook is having with recruits, "Yeah, even ND doesn't like us, but we're outworking them. I'm so cool I waterski blah blah blah."

More than the one or two athletes, illinois is leveraging the ND name for publicity.

We all know Zook is a TERRIBLE coach. Just look at his record. However, his marketing tactics are old school. Nothing about any of this surprises me.

ND is ND. illinois WANTS to be in an argument with ND.

The funny thing is illinois will still probably be a sub .500 team AGAIN for the 3x year in a row.

Let illinois steal recruits however they can. It'll just take a couple of years, but then you can laugh in their faces for being a TERRIBLE sub .500 FOOTBALL PROGRAM.
atepesm | Email | Homepage | 02.19.07 - 1:03 pm | #

Has anyone around here even heard of Occam's Razor?
TheMile | Email | Homepage | 02.19.07 - 1:22 pm | #

This continues to reinforce something that I've noticed lately -- Dan Wetzel is a friend to ND. Not because he praises us -- he doesn't seem to be a huge ND fan -- but because whenever ND is a topic of discussion he presents an unbiased, fact-informed view of the situation.

This article is not his first that does this. And, he's generally a good writer.

Plus, this reinforces something else I've noticed -- Yahoo.com sports is quickly becoming very good, and is a great site to visit instead of ESPN.com (especially because of its lack of pop-ups).

And, no, I don't work for Yahoo. Just my observations, and the fact that when someone in the media is decent, it should be pointed out.
Andrew | Email | Homepage | 02.19.07 - 1:23 pm | #

atepesm, I think that has a lot of merit. On some level, Illinois is just happy to be in the discussion, and has got to be pleased with all the press.

TheMile: so what's the "simplest explanation"?
Jay | Email | Homepage | 02.19.07 - 1:27 pm | #

Occam's Razor?


Is that the one with the five blades and the extra blade on the back?
Brad | Email | Homepage | 02.19.07 - 1:35 pm | #

The fact that the University of Illinois has hired an Indianapolis law firm (not an in-state Illinois or Michigan law firm) to perform its so-called investigation clearly points the finger at ND. This is purely a PR stunt. Not to turn this into a forensic sciences blog, but what is it that U of I expects this firm to do shy of talking to a witness here and there? ND is a private institution and, therefore, Indiana’s Freedom of Information Act should not entitle U of I to any source e-mail records. Moreover, short of filing a lawsuit, U of I has no subpoena powers. Unless I’m missing something, this stinks of a PR stunt.
Don E. Brook | Email | Homepage | 02.19.07 - 1:46 pm | #

Dumb questions: Where is all this going? How does this all play out?
Catz | Email | Homepage | 02.19.07 - 2:17 pm | #

I'm just getting sick and tired of all this shit. I mean, its ILLINOIS! Win a couple games first, and then try your damn PR stunts.
Brad | Email | Homepage | 02.19.07 - 2:18 pm | #

Which Indy firm did U of I hire?
24 hour | Email | Homepage | 02.19.07 - 3:11 pm | #

Occam's Razor is the rule that whenever I'm in a hurry, I will cut myself shaving. Or maybe that's Murphy's Razor.
DCDomer | Email | Homepage | 02.19.07 - 3:22 pm | #

Eff it. We're going to 5 blades.
Occam | Email | Homepage | 02.19.07 - 4:00 pm | #

Occam's Razor . . . . That's an easy one . . . Remember, on the 7 day, God created Wikipedia for those of us that didn't learn anything in Philo 101.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Occ...ki/ Occams_razor

Occam's razor (also spelled Ockham's razor) is a principle attributed to the 14th-century English logician and Franciscan friar William of Ockham. The principle states that the explanation of any phenomenon should make as few assumptions as possible, eliminating, or "shaving off", those that make no difference in the observable predictions of the explanatory hypothesis or theory. The principle is often expressed in Latin as the lex parsimoniae (law of succinctness or parsimony):

entia non sunt multiplicanda praeter necessitatem,

which translates to:

entities should not be multiplied beyond necessity.

This is often paraphrased as "All things being equal, the simplest solution tends to be the best one." In other words, when multiple competing theories are equal in other respects, the principle recommends selecting the theory that introduces the fewest assumptions and postulates the fewest hypothetical entities. It is in this sense that Occam's razor is usually understood.
atepesm | Email | Homepage | 02.19.07 - 4:42 pm | #

Yeah, that Freshman year Philo course almost killed me. Dang.
Kevin | Email | Homepage | 02.19.07 - 5:23 pm | #

24 hour -

The Illini never disclosed the name of the Indy firm. I read (in a Chicago paper I believe) that U of I hired the firm first to investigate whether the anonymous allegations were true and then, when they supposedly were proven not true, to investigate the source. The whole thing stinks. Why would an Illinois state university hire outside of the state to investigate their new head coach? As for where all of this is going? Nowhere. Zook even stated so much at his LOI radio interview in Chicago admitted something to the effect of "I'm sure their is nothing we can do about it."
Don E. Brook | Email | Homepage | 02.19.07 - 5:35 pm | #

Dig the moniker Don E. Brook. If that is your real name, it is even better.
usdirish | Email | Homepage | 02.19.07 - 6:32 pm | #

In BGS: the Movie, the role of Jim Delaney will be played by Craig T. Nelson.
Mike | Email | Homepage | 02.19.07 - 9:56 pm | #

I wish it was my real name, usdirish. Unfortunately, my real name is Les N. Normal.
Don E. Brook | Email | Homepage | 02.19.07 - 10:17 pm | #

Andrew-
does anyone still go to ESPN.com? I stopped a good 3-4 years ago when they started having too many popups, too much flash crap, and decided that they wouldn't have anything for free that wasn't on the AP wire (which can be picked up on Yahoo, with far less annoying ad space.)
crazy tom | Email | Homepage | 02.19.07 - 10:33 pm | #

Has Ron Zook accused Notre Dame of stealing Chief Illiniwek yet?
Matt J. | Email | Homepage | 02.19.07 - 11:52 pm | #

crazy tom,

Yeah, espn.com blows ass. I switched over to checking si.com for quick no frills headlines.
Brad | Email | Homepage | 02.20.07 - 12:47 am | #

No Matt J., but I hear that they may be organizing the native Celtic tribes of Indiana to petition the NCAA objecting to the leprechaun as an improper racial stereotype.
Don E. Brook | Email | Homepage | 02.20.07 - 9:55 am | #

Atepesm, I like your thinking. It's the G Gordon Liddy theory of prison safety, which is your first day in the can pick a fight with the biggest dog. After that, you will be respected.

Personally I think getting Illinois alumni involved in funding the football recruiting program was a stroke of genius - it is keeping them occupied while the AD gives chief Illinewek a one way ride to the joisey pine barrens.

In my opinion if they 'know' ND has made accusatory comments, they should acknowledge they are only silent comments.
indy | Email | Homepage | 02.20.07 - 10:52 am | #