Slammin' Sam on Sports Media Links

Howdy there, Free Keon and Slammin’ Sam on Sports Media Readers,

I may be wrong, but I have a feeling that you are one side or the other as far as the NFL Draft bonanza. For those who can’t get enough and love the extra day, let’s get right to that portion of links. For those who are asking themselves if the spectacle will ever end, let’s get that out of the way. Whatever your thoughts, here we go.

Naturally, we start with reports from St. Louis and Detroit.

Another football story that has dominated the headlines for weeks is, of course, Big Ben. Here’s the latest from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

Shifting to baseball, the hometown pundits are clearly against Carlos Zambrano’s move to the bullpen, but there he sits.

While one hurler has fallen upon hard times, Ubaldo Jiminez’s life could not be much better after twirling a no-hitter. Read Jim Armstrong’s interesting story from The Denver Post.

Finally, back to football for a look at Illini draft prospect Jon Asamoah.

Thanks for reading. Please note that I will be away next week. Slammin’ Sam will return Tue., May 4.

Sam Miller/Free Keon

Slammin' Sam on Sports Media Links

Plenty of news to discover today, Free Keon readers. I’m certain I could double or triple my usual Slammin’ Sam on Sports Media Links Edition, but I’ll stick to the usual five.

Hop on for the ride! We’ll start with the aftermath of college football’s Signing Day. Florida reigned supreme in its recruiting efforts, and the Illini, well, that’s TBD.

And let’s not forget Rich Rodriguez and the Maize and Blue. It never hurts Illini fans to hear what misdeeds, miscues, and general pitfalls could be going on up in Ann Arbor. From the sound of things, observers closer to the action up there aren’t too sure about yesterday.

Carrying on, today’s links could have been all about Michigan. In case you missed it, the current Big Ten Player of the Year, Kalin Lucas suffered a high ankle sprain in last night’s first MSU blemish.

Giants Defensive End and catalyst Osi Umenyiora is hurting too. Except what's dogging him is his pride. He’s threatening to take his ball and go home.

Finally, on the lighter side, a collection of Who Dat parodies. May the best team win Sunday.

Thanks for stopping by today!

Sam Miller/Free Keon

Slammin' Sam on Sports Media Congratulates Girardi and More

Coming at you with a distinctly Illinois edition of Slammin’ Sam on Sports Media today. In fact, I’d argue that the biggest story for the next few days emanates right out of the heartland. That’s thanks to World Champion New York Yankees manager Joe Giradi’s East Peoria, IL roots. Congrats to the Bombers and their skipper.

The Associated Press’s Jim Litke reminds readers that Girardi set a target for a Yankees’ World Series winner not too long after he hung up his catcher’s gear. A decade later, Girardi hit the mark dead on.

Closer to home, Chicago Sun-Times writer, Chris De Luca echoes Litke’s sentiments and adds that the Yankees are simply the right fit for Girardi. Any other scenario, including a spot at the helm of the Cubs’ ship would have yielded different results.

New York Post columnist Mike Vacarro writes a more personal story about Girardi’s latest experience, which can be seen through a lens familiar to any number of fans. It’s all about family.

Finally, the last link in the apparent Joe Giradi corner today is from the New York Daily News. Marie Henry couldn’t care less that Girardi just guided the Yanks to the title. She didn’t even recognize him. All she knew was that Girardi was there for her in her time of need.

Those of you non-Yankees fans can breathe now. We’ve emerged from that realm. De Luca’s colleague, Neil Hayes says former Illini football head man and current Bears Offensive Coordinator Ron Turner is running out of excuses.

Sam Miller/Free Keon

Illinois Football a hit on a sitcom, not in reality

ABC's new, surprisingly funny sitcom Modern Family featured the Illini football program - and the immortal Dustin Ward. The premise of the latest episode featured a barbecue where the Illinois vs Ohio State football game was on TV.

All Outa' Juice

Hold on to your hats, the Illini are due for a dramatic turnaround. Ron Zook announced on that he was going with Eddie McGee instead of Juice Williams for the Illini against Michigan State on Saturday.
We have seen McGee play, it isn't great, and neither is this Illini team. This is like when a baseball team fires it's manager in the middle of the season because the team is playing terribly. It really isn't about how the manager, or in this scenario Juice, has preformed. It is about the team doing poorly and the need to shake things up in the hopes of re-energizing the team. As far as the Illini program goes, it really is not a good sign when your all-time career leader in yardage gets benched his senior year.

The Game is 50% Mental

Or at least a higher percentage than zero. Because that is how much intelligence the Illini displayed on Saturday against THE Ohio State University in a 30-0 blowout loss. It is amazing how many dumb mistakes a team can make in a game. There were stupid penalties galore.

The Illini had players lining up in the wrong place, earning an illegal formation penalty, facemask penalties, inexplicably tackling people out of bounds, not being able to decide whether or not to return a kickoff, and just generally being dumb. The offensive line should watch the game tape with zany calliope music. All they did was run into each other, not pick up blitzers, and receive holding penalties.

It really makes you question how good our coaching is. Why did we not throw the ball down the field more? The one time we tried it Rejus was wide open and drew a pass interference penalty, our best play all day. Also the coaches failed to make defensive adjustments when Ohio State only ran two plays all day and NEVER threw the ball. OSU had zero passing yards in the first half, and the Illini had no answer for the running game. So far the Illini have embarrassed themselves twice in two big games. The only good news is that it is still early in the season. Or is that bad news? I'm not sure.