Illinois vs. PSU

Illinois vs. Penn State
Tonight @ 7 p.m.

I'll remember the 89-72 shellacking of Gonzaga when I realized that this Illini team was really good.

I'll remember the 91-73 destruction of Wake Forest when I realized that this Illini team was really, really good.

I'll remember Luther Head's 25 point, 42 minute performance against Iowa in an overtime win.

I'll remember Ingram's two three-pointers that helped snap Wisconsin's 38 game home winning streak.

I'll remember Dee Brown tossing the ball over his head to Deron Williams who punched the ball to James Augustine for a monstrous dunk in the opening minutes of our win over Indiana.

And I'll most definitely remember Dee Brown's refuse to lose attitude in the second half of the Michigan game.

Reader, these moments will be filed away next to some other special Illini memories that I've gathered over the years. I’d like to share one with you now.

[Cue cheesy music]

It all started like bad 80's movie. Dimitry called me from Australia where he was visiting his girlfriend who was studying abroad.

"The bitch dumped me," he said dumbfounded.

"What?! How did that happen?" Dimitry started to explain how it went down, but his words faded as I hatched the greatest idea I’d ever had.

"Let's go to Dayton," I interrupted.

"Huh? You want me to fly half way around the world so that we can go watch Illinois in the first round of the NCAAs?"

"Yes."

"That's a great idea," his voice quivered

Thirty-six hours later, I picked up D at O’Hare and we drove to Dayton to watch Illinois vs Northwestern State in the first round of the 2001 NCAA Tournament. On the way I called up my friend Jared. He was President of the Orange Krush at the time and is the Co-Author of 100 Years of Illinois Basketball. We booked a room, bought tickets, and prepared for the deepest Illinois tourney run in 10 years

Friday’s game was a laugher, and after we watched the games all day Saturday, we decided to celebrate St. Patrick ’s Day in downtown Dayton. We were drinking green beer at a tented block party when I hatched my second greatest idea ever. "Fellas," I said. "Each hotel that is housing a team has an NCAA basketball banner on display. I think we need some decorations for our houses. A sparkle twinkled their eyes. At that, we were off like Dee Brown on a fast break.

We snuck into a parking garage in downtown Dayton where we untied and stole a 10 foot long NCAA banner. We stuffed it into Jared's car and Dimitry wondered aloud, "who gets to keep it?" Jared and Kevin lived together, while Dimitry and I resided at the Cottage, a huge 8-man mansion we called home. "Well, let's go get another one offered up Jared.

At our second stop, the four of us swiped a low hanging sign, and we started the hi-fiving each other as we walked back to the car. All of a sudden we heard footsteps and then, "You, you there. Stop where you are."

We took off.

I dropped the sign, and we jumped into Jared's car. He threw it into reverse when we heard a sickening THUD. Our heads snapped around to see a lanky man in cowboy boots flying in slow motion through the air. 'Oh Shit' should have been stamped on all of our foreheads as we looked at each other dumbfounded. The hotel security guard had tried to jump on the car as we were making our getaway

We got out and saw that the man was OK. We knew that he was OK because he picked himself off the payment and screamed, "Get your asses inside. I'm calling the cops and charging you four w/trespassing." We contemplated another escape, but Zed (that's what we'll call him for dramatic purposes) said, "Don't even think about it. I have your license plate number."

We sat in the hotel lobby waiting for the police when Jared started to plead our case. "Sir, we're just fans who wanted a souvenir. It's not like we got drunk and decided to go steal something." I nearly lost it.

The police strode in and things immediately started to look up. "I hear that you boys have been very naughty," said one of the cops trying to contain his laughter. The police let us off with a warning, and as we left they said, "Go have some fun,"

We were all pretty pleased until Jared saw the trunk of his car. There was a huge dent from where Ned had jumped on trying to do his best MacGyver impersonation. We called over the police and Jared showed them what had happened.

"Pop the trunk and let’s see the damage. You might be able to file charges against the hotel."

At that point, we all realized that the first sign we stole was stashed in the trunk. We were about to be caught red handed.

"Uh, Uh...let's just forget it. I don't want to push our luck," Jared told the officers.

We drove back to the hotel relieved that there would not be any jail time and happy about the story we had to tell from our trip to Dayton.

The next day, Illinois defeated Charlotte to earn a trip the Sweet Sixteen and a meeting w/Kansas.

A month after the tournament was over, we were still telling our story to anybody who would listen, when Dimitry and I received a strange package in the mail with no return address. When we opened it, we found the very banner we tried to steal in Dayton. Attached to the sign was a note from the police.

Guys,

Sometimes its better to ask then to steal.

Officer Johnson and Officer Nadel.

I know that many of you have some great Illini memories, so please send them my way. I’d love to read them, and I may even publish them in my annual IGP Mail Bag Edition.

Game Analysis

The Nittany Lions - bad .

The Fighting Illini - good

Illinois - 79
Penn State - 60


Sincerely,

The Ghost of Illini Past