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Tuesday, Feb. 08, 2005 - 9:04 p.m. On paper, tonight�s game looked like an easy trip on the schedule. After starting off 23-0 and taking the best efforts from many good teams, traveling to Michigan had many Illini fans wondering how badly they would beat this downtrodden team. After all, Michigan had dropped its last 6 games, several by large margins. And then a funny thing happened- Michigan played their best game of the year. The good guys (my Illini) came out flat, and let Michigan set the style and rhythm of play for the game. Oh yeah- and the Illinois� offense went almost 15 minutes on the play clock (from about 8 minutes left in the first half until about the 13 minute mark of the second half) only scoring 3 points. Michigan used the same strategy that (in a much more famous championship game from the mid 1980�s) Villanova did to defeat a powerful (and also #1) Georgetown squad � use up almost every second of the play clock on each possession, end up with a good shot, and shorten the game as much as possible. Three of the last four games the Illini have played have been played in a similar fashion. This is an admission by the coaches of the opposition that their team is not good enough to play a faster paced, modern style of basketball. Not to insult the other squads, but facts are facts. Anyway� With Michigan up 34-26 (their largest lead) with 14 minutes to go, something Coach Weber said during a time out woke his team up. For the final 14 minutes of the game, Michigan didn�t get one uncontested shot off, and had many possessions end with someone for the Illini (usually Dee Brown) headed the other way for an easy basket. Many of these trips came after someone stole the ball from a Wolverine player, too. I might be wrong, but I think Michigan only scored 2 baskets in the final 9 minutes of the game. If not for free throws, they would have lost by 16 or more points. Hard to believe, after they had built up the 8 point lead. Oh yeah- the game was on national TV again (ESPN). And Digger Phelps was drooling, seeing the Illini about to fall (still can�t figure out why he feels this way. Maybe he and Weber had a run-in when Phelps was at Notre Dame and Webber at Purdue?) With Boston College dropping their first loss of the season tonight, the Illini are now the last team with a perfect record in division 1 basketball. Do I think they will go the rest of the season undefeated? Probably not. The last time anyone did that was 1976 (Indiana, with 4 players who ended up being 1st round NBA draft picks in their starting lineup). But even if they don�t (and hopefully it would NOT happen in the NCAA tourney next month), this has been a great season. Just a few months ago Codeman, J-Rod and I drove to Champaign and scalped tickets for the season opening game against Florida A&M. Little did we know then how well they would play, and for so long�. Why did I waste so much time writing about the Illini game tonight? Snow. Again. Around 2� � 3� expected overnight. I am on days this week, so since it is supposed to start any time now I shouldn�t have to worry about it until tomorrow morning. One nice thing about having a sports team that provides me with so much enjoyment during the winter is that they take my mind off of my workplace, even if only for a few hours� One last thing- I made a batch of plum dipping (sweet and sour style) sauce after work tonight. We picked up some real nice red plums at Sam�s Club on Saturday. Since I wasn�t able to put this stuff up last fall (never found plums at the right time or price), these peak-of-the-season South American imports fit the bill perfectly. Ended up with 9 half-pints, plus one unsealed jar for my effort. And because these plums were nearly ripe when purchased (and allowed to ripen even more in a glass bowl on the kitchen table), you shouldn�t be able to tell the difference from what I would have made back in October. If I only had the room, I would plant a couple of Japanese plum trees of my own. But I don�t, so whatever I can pick up in season is the best I can do. One things for sure- looking at all of the nursery catalogs I have received recently makes me wish we had bought a house on a much bigger chunk of ground�.
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