I knew it. I knew at some point, I would get heartbroken by this team. You know why? Because they reside in Cham”pain”, Illinois. I touched loosely on the subject of heartbreaks as an Illini fan back a couple of blogs ago, but this time I am going in depth. I will show you firsthand my experiences being an Illinois sports fan.
So if you have been living under a rock, the Illinois basketball team lost to Loyola-Chicago, the in-state rival, in the NCAA Tournament on Sunday. As the best Illinois team since the 2005 Final Four squad, they do not even make it past the first weekend of the tournament. Ayo Dosunmu, the best player, is leaving for the NBA Draft, and Kofi Cockburn may not be far behind in joining the pro ranks. This is what the norm is being an Illinois basketball fan. Heck, before this year, Illinois hadn’t even made the tournament since 2013. It is just a constant cycle of how they can break our heart each time we are actually good at something.
Basketball is not the only thing that Illinois sports fans have to be tortured by. Right across the street, the Illinois football team plays football games, if that is what you want to call it. Last year, Illinois went 2-6 in the shortened conference-only season last year, with the only wins being against Nebraska and Rutgers. Listen, I know that Illinois football is the last thing people care about here. Everyone, including myself, would want more success from the basketball team rather than the football team. But Illinois has not finished over .500 since 2011, and that is the season they started out 6-0 and finished 7-6! So, I really hope that the football team gets put on the map at some point. I vividly remember when Illinois made the Rose Bowl in 2007, when we went into Ohio Stadium and beat #1 Ohio State. Why not do that again? It is a new era, as Bret Bielema is the new head coach after the dumpster fire that was Lovie Smith. Bielema once went to three straight Rose Bowls with Wisconsin, although he did lose those, I would kill to see Illinois in a Rose Bowl. So hopefully Bielema can put this program on the map.
So in the end, there are some sports that are good at Illinois. We have a very good golf program, our baseball team is solid, and tennis is pretty good too. But the problem is, I do not watch those. My main focus is football and basketball, and the main thing I want is long-term success. The future is bright for Illini basketball, but football is to be determined.
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