By Woodrow Carroll The University of Illinois has a rich football history going back to 1890. That initial season saw the Fighting Illini finish with a 1-2 record when Illinois split two games with Illinois Wesleyan along with a loss to Purdue. Coaches came and went those early years in...
By Woodrow Carroll There are 134 FBS (Football Bowl Subdivision) teams at the present time, seeking gridiron glory. Collegiate glory in the form of a National Championship that went the way of the Michigan Wolverines last season. Twelve regular-season games are the usual number of scheduled contests for the FBS...
By Woodrow Carroll September 7, Northern Illinois shocked Notre Dame with a 16-14 victory, in a game that made national news. At the time, the Fighting Irish were ranked No. 5 in the polls. As you might imagine, Notre Dame took a beating in the polls after that upset loss....
By Woodrow Carroll Northern Illinois’ 42-28 victory at Western Michigan last week certainly won’t be remembered to the extent of their victory over Notre Dame, earlier in the season. Yet, the victory in Kalamazoo was ever so vital to a football program that has floundered since that meeting with the...
By Woodrow Carroll Going into last Saturday’s Minnesota at Illinois’ football game, Illinois head coach, Brett Bielema, had a 10-0 lifetime record against the Minnesota Golden Gophers. Seven of those victories were from when Bielema was the Wisconsin coach and the final three were a product of Bielema’s last three...
By Woodrow Carroll The University of Illinois may belong in the Top 25 of the various collegiate football polls. What Oregon proved last Saturday, was that the Illini are not worthy of inclusion in the Top 10, of any of the polls. Oregon defeated visiting Illinois, 38-9, in what was...
By Woodrow Carroll Illinois’ three major college football programs, Illinois, Northwestern and Northern Illinois, all showed a decided lack of offensive punch last Saturday. Combined the three teams scored only 30 points. Fortunately, Illinois had 21 of those points and, along with a stout defense, the Fighting Illini came away...
By Woodrow Carroll It was a rare weekend for the state of Illinois’ major college football programs when Northwestern, Northern Illinois, and Illinois each recorded victories last Friday and Saturday. And for a bonus the Chicago Bears won. What is going on? The Northwestern Wildcats (3-3 and 1-2) got things...
By Woodrow Carroll Trailing the Massachusetts Minutemen, 13-7, at halftime Saturday, Oct. 5, the Northern Illinois football team was up against it. The luster surrounding the Huskies’ upset of Notre Dame had long since faded. A shocking loss to MAC rival Buffalo was followed by a tough loss at North...
By Woodrow Carroll It was homecoming week at Hinckley-Big Rock High School last week and Royals did themselves proud. For starters, the HBR soccer team won a 7-0 shutout game against visiting Yorkville Parkview Christian Academy Falcons last Friday, Sept. 27. However, the game seemed a bit secondary to the...
By Woodrow Carroll After suffering a shocking upset at the hands of Northern Illinois University, there was a feeling that Notre Dame would be fired up when they played Purdue last Saturday at Purdue. It was true! Notre Dame (2-1) won, 66-7, and were up 42-0 at halftime. Historical note!...
By Woodrow Carroll Due to a bye week, the Northern Illinois football program will have an extra week to savor their 16-14 monster upset of Notre Dame last Saturday in South Bend. The next game for Northern Illinois will be at home Saturday, Sept. 21 against Buffalo, a Mid-American Conference...
By Woodrow Carroll Does it bother you to contemplate the thought of a nice (ostensibly) Irish girl shooting a former Notre Dame Fighting Irish football star in the back. Well it should. Before we continue much further, be advised that tongue in cheek will be at play in this article,...
By Woodrow Carroll The Milwaukee Brewers are almost a sure bet to make the Major League Baseball (MLB) playoffs this season. At the start of this week’s action, the Brewers were 11.0 games ahead of the opposition in the National League Central Division and for the Brewers to not finish...
By Woodrow Carroll Last season was a good one for the Northern Illinois University football program. It finish strong and fans likely will remember the team fondly. Ten games into the 2023 schedule, Northern Illinois was 4-6 and struggling after opening the campaign with a big road victory at Boston...
By Woodrow Carroll A look at the names of many of the sports teams around the country, there can be wonder how the names, or more rightly the nicknames applied to the teams originated. For starters, the NBA (National Basketball Association) has three teams with names that seem a bit...
By Woodrow Carroll After watching the Chicago White Sox struggle the first part of this season, there were observers who thought the team might pick up the pace following the all-star break. Although few, if any, nobody envisioned the Sox stringing together a long winning streak, the more optimistic Sox’...
By Woodrow Carroll Occasionally, when surfing the web, one comes across an interesting bit of reading. One interesting article was on Olympic Games athletes who died before their time. All too often it was a war or military conflict that brought about death. The individuals were in the modern Olympic...
By Woodrow Carroll The Atlanta Braves have been one of Major League Baseball’s success stories in recent seasons. The Braves have made numerous playoff appearances, highlighted by a World Series championship in 2021. This season, Atlanta is well positioned for a playoff berth as a wild-card entrant, although winning the...
By Woodrow Carroll To many younger fans it may be difficult to know that there were many cities which at one time had two Major League Baseball (MLB) teams. In the late 1950s and early 1960s only Chicago had more than one team in the metropolitan area. In 1952 there...
