Thursday, December 22, 2005

Braggin' Baby

Together with our wives, Good Hope Orange and I got to see the Braggin' Rights game last night in person. This is quickly becoming a Christmas tradition and one that I hope continues for a long time.

I know you can get the wrap on the game from the papers and probably saw it anyway so a few thoughts on the game from someone who was there and things you may not have seen on TV:

Energy
Dee and Augie played masterful games. Dee's shots are falling and Augie is attacking the basket like never before.

Not that I'm looking ahead to next season but I've been wondering if the rest of the guys, particularly those who will be around next year, will be able to pick up the intensity without Dee. Well, you may not have seen it if you were watching the game on TV but in the second half, Brian Randle starting pumping his fist in the air and throwing his arms up to get the Illini faithful to scream. This was a welcome sight. It was great to see someone other than Dee step up. Randle was definately playing with fire last night.

Jamar Smith
Jamar Smith. He's automatic and full of attitude.

Atmosphere
Mark Tupper says it was 65 percent Illini. But if you count all the restaurants and Union Station beforehand, I'd have to say it was at least 85-90 percent Orange. It was unreal.

We were at the Hard Rock before the game and I counted three tables of Mizzou fans. The rest of the place was orange. In fact, the Illini cheerleaders and pep band came in and pumped us up for about 20 minutes or so. It was great!

Odds and ends
Best t-shirt
Spotted outside the Savvis Center on a Mizzou fan who's obviously had enough: "BRING BACK NORM."

# posted by Chief : 5:41 PM


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