Quality vs. Quantity

I'm going to apply the age-old argument of Quality vs. Quantity in dissecting the celebrity rooting interests in the upcoming Rose Bowl. Rather than forming cogent arguments in a well-structured essay, I am going to list whom I consider to be important famous supporters of the beloved, and the others...


USC:

Adam Herbert - President of Indiana University....figures.

Neil Armstrong - First to walk on the moon

Baseball players: Aaron Boone, Bret Boone, Morgan Ensberg, Geoff Jenkins, Fred Lynn, Mark McGwire, Mark Prior...all of which have been accused of or rumored to be involved with steroids. Oh, and a giant Poofter.

Professional Golfer- Craig Stadler. I'll take the thousands of Chicago city workers that look like walruses over one golfer.

Dan Bane - President of Trader Joe's - Hippie

Chris DeWolfe - Co-founder of MySpace - as far as I can tell, he's not Tom

James Jannard - Founder of Oakley Sunglasses - making Brian Bosworth still look cool.

LeVar Burton - actor - was he Carlton? maybe Webster?







Sophia Bush - actress- dammit, she's hot




John Carpenter - film director- "Halloween" was cool...but that was 27 years ago.

America Ferreira - actress - "Ugly Betty"...I think my grandma likes that show.

Ron Howard - film director - Am I the only one who doesn't get why he's so revered?? Except that he was the narrator for "Arrested Development" and that show is the balls.

Matthew Lawrence - actor - Whoa! Oh wait, wrong Lawrence...this was the one with the dark girlfriend in Boy Meets World

John Wayne- actor- He went to college!??!

Dexter Holland - musician - Singer for The Offspring...enough said.

Mark McGrath - musician - Singer for Sugar Ray...more worthless than The Offspring

MC Lyte- rapper- She went to college!?!? What are the admissions criteria at USC...shitting on the floor??

Lisa Ling - reporter, former co-host of The View - she's hot too...anyone other than Scott watch Channel 1 in high school and remember her? But I have a thing for the Asians...





BELOVED:

Gene Hackman - actor/professional bad-ass - Bet he loves Grossburgers

Jerry Orbach - actor - Law and Order...da da dum - In the criminal justice system, the people are represented by two separate but equally important groups....

Ang Lee - film director- Brokeback Mountain....ummmm

Andy Richter- actor/comedian- This list is already better than USC's.


Alan Ruck - actor- CAMERON FRYE!!!!

Jim Cantalupo - CEO of McDonald's

Stephen Carter - CEO of El Pollo Loco and former President/COO of Universal Studios Hollywood- we've taken over LA already!

Robert L. Johnson - Founder of BET. Thank you, sir!

Michael P. Krasny - Founder of CDW. Employer of one Scott Miller Collins

Abe Saperstein - Creator of the Harlem Globetrotters

Ed Boon- Creator of Mortal Kombat - fatality!!

Jawed Karim - Co-Founder of YouTube

Fazlur Khan - Designer and builder of Sears Tower

H. Gene Slottow - Inventor of plasma display

Roger Ebert - film critic and way better than Siskel and Roeper...put together

Weather Forecast

LAS VEGAS

12/28 47° Partly Cloudy
12/29 52° Partly Sunny
12/30 54° Mostly Sunny

PASADENA

12/30 66° Sunny
12/31 64° Sunny
1/1 62° Sunny
1/2 62° Sunny

Never forget

Let's all remember how we got here. In my mind, the greatest moment in Illini history. :

Speculation: "Hang Time" coach Mike Katowinski To Appear at Rose Bowl

With the announcement that special “Illini personalities” will be appearing at the Illini Bash celebration occurring on New Year’s Eve at Universal Studios, speculation as to the identity of these mysterious Illini celebrities is widespread. This blog speculates that Fighting Illini football legend turned Hollywood actor Dick Butkus will be one of the celebrities appearing at Illini Bash.

Butkus is a hero of epic proportion in Fighting Illini football annals. As a center and linebacker, he was the Big Ten’s Most Valuable Player in 1963 and a unanimous All-American in 1963 and 1964. Between top 6 finishes in Heisman Trophy balloting, Butkus starred in Illinois’ last Rose Bowl victory, the 17-7 triumph over Washington in 1964. He later completed a storied career with the Chicago Bears and was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1979.

After hanging up his cleats, Butkus turned to acting, appearing in many films and television shows. His first starring role in a network sitcom was Richard “Ski” Butowski in “Blue Thunder,” which aired for 11 episodes in 1984. Butkus starred opposite a young Dana Carvey and others as a Los Angeles police officer involved with a unit that utilized an extraordinary helicopter to fight crime.



For the remainder of the decade Butkus guest starred in sitcoms such as “Night Court,” “My Two Dads,” and “Growing Pains,” a virtual pantheon of 1980s television. The 1990s brought roles in football films “Necessary Roughness” and “Any Given Sunday,” as well as a three episode stint as Earl “Rocket Man” Dent in “MacGyver.”



Butkus may be best known to a younger generation of Illini fans as Mike Katowinski, the gruff but genial coach of the fictional Deering High School basketball team in the Saturday morning children’s television series “Hang Time.” The show, which starred Daniella Deutscher as Julie Connor, a female standout on a boys’ basketball team, was a formidable addition to an NBC lineup that already included Saturday morning heavy hitters “Saved by the Bell” and “California Dreams.” It is this blog’s California dream that come New Year’s Eve, when the Fighting Illini invade the land of movie stars, Fighting Illini and movie star Dick Butkus will be present to minister to the orange masses.

Illini Support

Who Needs Will Ferrell when we have this guy supporting us??!!

I felt compelled to add more sweet Nick Smith photos. Is that Hitler on defense? - Jack

USC Alum Will Ferrell rooting for Illinois in Rose Bowl?

Hollywood actor Will Ferrell, a USC alum, has been known to appear at Trojan football functions and watch games from the sidelines. So this photograph, showing Ferrell sporting a blue Speedo and skin of an orange hue, is quite surprising and raises serious doubts about his allegiance to his alma mater in the 2008 Rose Bowl. Let the speculation that Will Ferrell will be rooting for Illinois in the Rose Bowl officially begin.

Illinois' Rose Bowl History

I'm sure we all know this already, but by means of review:

January 1, 1947 Illinois 45 UCLA 14
January 1, 1952 Illinois 40 Stanford 7
January 1, 1964 Illinois 17 Washington 7
January 2, 1984 UCLA 45 Illinois 9
January 1, 2008 Illinois vs. Southern California

Game MVPs:
1947 Claude "Buddy" Young, Illinois (HB), Julius Rykovich, Illinois (HB)
1952 William Tate, Illinois (HB)
1964 Jim Grabowski, Illinois (FB)

There are three logical conclusions from this data: (1) Illinois always wins the Rose Bowl when it plays an opponent that it has not previously played in the Rose Bowl. Illinois has never before played USC in the Rose Bowl. Thus, Illinois will beat USC in the Rose Bowl. (2) Illinois never loses the Rose Bowl when it is played on New Year's Day. The 2008 Rose Bowl will be played on New Year's Day. Thus, Illinois will win the 2008 Rose Bowl. (3) Illinois running backs always win the Rose Bowl MVP award when Illinois wins the Rose Bowl. Rashard Mendenhall is a running back. Thus, Rashard Mendenhall will win the Rose Bowl MVP award when Illinois beats USC in the 2008 Rose Bowl.

Prediction

I am going out on a limb and make the prediction that the Fighting Illini will double their entire season total for interception return yards in the Rose Bowl.

We need someone to get a pick and return it at least 2 yards to accomplish this feat. Yes, the Illini have 16 interceptions this season, and 1 return yard.

Fighting Illini Rose Bowl Christmas Tree Receiving National Attention

Photographs of the Fighting Illini Rose Bowl Christmas Tree created by blog contributors Frank "I'm going to the Rose" Bahl and Nick Hayward have been posted by the Champaign News-Gazette on the Rose Bowl page of its website. The tree is now receiving national attention thanks to this exposure from the premier newspaper for Fighting Illini Rose Bowl coverage.

Rose Parade Information and Route

For all of you thinking of attending the parade, TONS of information about the parade can be found online here. Also, click here for a Parade Route PDF. The closest the parade comes to the Rose Bowl is about 1 mile. Furthermore, all of the floats will be on display after the parade about three miles from the Rose Bowl. The parade starts at 8 am and lasts 2.5 hours. Curbside camping for good "seats" is allowed starting at 12:00 pm the day before!

"The Fighting Illini in Pasadena"

Yes, it's the classic 1983 recording set to pictures of the 2007 squad. Check out the oldie but goodie on YouTube.

Fighting Illini Beer

Yes, as the pictures on the Champaign News-Gazette Rose Bowl page prove, this very concoction was brewed back in 1984 to commemorate the Fighting Illini's trip to Pasadena. One can only hope the victory celebration to occur in less than 2 weeks will include these tasty suds.

Site Tracker

Now we can see who's reading the blog, all over the world. I hear that, like the Hoff, it's big in Deutschland.

O'Strien Unimpressed with Carroll

Sure he's 69-8 with 6 straight conference titles, 2 Rose Bowl victories, 2 Orange Bowl victories and 2 National Championships over his last six years at USC. Pete Carroll doesn't impress me. In fact, I'm more impressed with the Carol played by Horatio Sanz on SNL than the Carroll strutting the sidelines in L.A.



Nobody brings up his 10-6 loss against NCAA football powerhouse Utah in the Las Vegas Bowl back in 2001. Nor does anyone mention his highly mediocre 33-31 NFL coaching record. And that 2005 Rose Bowl loss to Texas, a "fluke" say the sportswriters: the inevitable fruition of Vince Young, whom even Carroll could not stop. He has also failed to produce a Heisman trophy winner for 2 years.

Just look at him, sauntering around in SoCal, dressing like Inside the Actor's Studio host James Lipton, conveniently surrounding himself with USC cheerleaders as a backdrop for photos like some creepy guy in a bar (i.e. Jake Peavey, Roy Oswalt).



After graduating from the prestigious academic institution University of the Pacific, Carroll tried out for the Honolulu Hawaiians of the World Football League but was cut due to "shoulder problems." In other words, he didn't have what it takes to make it in the WFL. So what did he do? Went back to school and got a Masters degree in gym, thus qualifying him to be a head coach in the NFL and/or PAC-10.

This January 1 promises to be another blight on the professional resume of Pete Carroll, as his Rose Bowl record will drop to .500 at the hands of the Illini. Said victory will be another fissure in the steel shroud of lies that comfortably blankets Pete Carroll and protects him from reality.

"In the year 2000!!"

A Rose Bowl twist on Conan O'Brein's "In The Year 2000!!!" bit.

- After 7 mediocre seasons bouncing around the NFL, Reggie Bush gets arrested on soliciting sex charges. After being released from jail on baill he is stabbed 17 times in the leg by none-other than Lendale White. During his testimony White confesses to the stabbing stating it was a crime of passion. "I won that damn Heisman trophy! I deserved it! But no, I paved the way for that poor excuse for a football player and he gets the trophy, the #2 overall pick and the dollars. What do I get? Mel Kiper Jr. telling everyone in America I'm fat!". After hearing the case the judge releases White with 50 hours community service. Fans in New Orleans applaud.

- Bush is never the same again. While never becoming the premiere back everyone, except ex-Texans GM Charley Casserly, predicted, his less than stellar numbers got even worse. His lack of performance, coupled with his crippling cough syrup addiction, forced him out of the league after just 8 seasons. Barely able to make rent, Bush decides to team up with newly released convict, former Heisman trophy winner and USC Alumnus OJ Simpson and quickly begin a fraudulent sports memorabilia store started with goods Simpson himself stole. The operation is just a front and the two were quickly arrested for armed robbery and possible connection to ecstasy trafficking.

- A prank by the Cal Bears, over privileged under scrutinized UC Rally Committee gone horribly well finds the USC Trojan band without instruments for an entire season. Fans around the nation, rejoice in the revelation that they will no longer have to hear the USC fight song after every snap in a football game. Bandos everywhere have silent candlelight vigils in morning. Suddenly, hate crimes on university campuses plummet to all-time lows, global warming ends, crude oil begins trading at under $10 a barrel, the middle east is in peace, the east has a new found love for the west, McDonalds decides to sell the McGriddle all day, everyday, for only a $1. The correlation of these events is still in debate.


More to come.......