Sports thoughts, champions, perspectives:
• Defense wins championships. The University of Illinois football program, after a long-time waiting, is having a good season. The defense is excelling and has given up the fewest points in Division I nationwide. The visiting University of Minnesota is No. 2 in points allowed. The teams will meet at 11 a.m. Saturday in Champaign. U of I head coach, Bret Bielema, in the second year at the school, originally is from northwest Illinois and a former head coach at the University of Wisconsin. He will be on the sideline opposite Minnesota head coach, P.J. Fleck, outstanding receiver at Kaneland High School in Kane County and at Northern Illinois University in DeKalb. Bielema’s record against Minnesota is 8-0, from days at Wisconsin, according to writer Woodrow Carroll. Did we perform a jinx against Bielema?
• Batavia High School’s football team moved to 5-2 overall with its 33-7 Friday victory at home against neighborhood rival, Geneva. Earlier in that week Batavia head coach Dennis Piron said the game would be fun and said it would be a tight game. The 26-point victory certainly was enjoyable for the Batavia coaches and fans. Batavia will be at St. Charles East Friday and Geneva will be at Wheaton North Friday, both DuKane Conference games. Other rivalry games last weekend included St. Charles, 38-7 against St. Charles East; Wheaton North, 8-7, against Wheaton Warrenville South; Glenbard North, 35-14 against Lake Park; Neuqua Valley, 28-0 against Waubonsie Valley; South Elgin, 49-25 against Elgin; Plainfield South, 26-0 against Plainfield Central. Rivalries are important. There is no game between East Aurora and West Aurora because the teams are in separate conferences with schedules which do not permit the rivalry game. Two weeks of high school football games will provide for the playoff announcements Saturday, Oct. 22.
• The Fall high school sports are in playoff modes in boys and girls golf, boys soccer, girls tennis, boys and girls cross country.
• In girls golf, Hinsdale Central won the Class 2A State championship and the school’s boys team took second place. In boys Class 1A (small school), IC Catholic Prep took third place.
• Big Ten Conference boys basketball teams will begin non-conference games Monday, Nov. 7, one day prior to election Tuesday, Nov. 8.
• The Major League Baseball season last week moved into the six-team playoff season in each league without the Chicago teams. Sigh!