The Last Dance

Well, with the issue with Jamar Smith looming, and the Illini's NCAA hopes diminishing due to Michigan State's big win over number 1 Wisconsin, a decisive win over Michigan was just what the doctor ordered. It was Senior night and Marcus Arnold put in some quality minutes. Rich McBride struggled to start the game but led the Illini in a early second half run that the the Wolverines could never come back from. Warren Carter also played great in the second half scoring 18 points. It was great for him because his mother finally got a chance to come up from Texas to watch her son play one last time for the Illini in Champaign.

Since ESPN sat on the rights to the game (which I don't think was a coincidence due to the Chief situation), I had to watch the game at sports bar, which ended up being great. It was a great game to watch in the company of other Illini fans, and allowed the Illini nation to exhale after one of the worst weeks in the program's history.

Last night wasn't just the last dance for the seniors but also for Assembly Hall announcer Jim Sheppard and Chief Illinwek. It appears the athletic department has decided to replace reliable, loyal announcer Jim Sheppard with some loudmouth over the top sideshow announcer. All I have to say on the subject is that Jim did a great job, and the University made a huge mistake in throwing a loyal supporter to the University and supporter of the basketball program to the curb. As for the Chief I've made my opinion on him quite clear. The last dance was a sad affair but I have great respect for Dan Maloney, the current portrayer of the Chief, who after finishing his dance, returned to the floor stopping to face each direction of the Hall, and stomping his foot before leaving. I've converted the streaming video of the performance from www.fightingillini.com and uploaded to a downloading site if you'd like to save the performance to your computer.

http://rapidshare.com/files/17658341/_2_chief.wmv.html