We Love No Other

Live from the stands after the Illini beat EIU 45-0 in the opener. 

Each year, Tyler and I record a postseason therapy session to discuss our latest NCAA Tournament loss. This year, after making the Elite Eight, there's not much "therapy" needed. It's more of a... celebration. 

I asked for questions on Twitter and Slack and then answered those questions as I drove to Omaha for the 1st & 2nd Round of the NCAA Tournament. I got to every single question, which is why this is 2 hours and 40 minutes long. 

It's March. There's a Big Ten Tournament and then an NCAA Tournament ahead for the Illini. So Will and I sat down to discuss the Illini in March, past and present. 

John Gasaway is writing his Bubble Watch columns again (the original and the best), so that's my signal each year to bring him on the podcast to talk Illini basketball. Thankfully, it's not the "do the Illini have a chance to make it to the right side of the bubble?" discussion it would have been in the 2010's.

I asked for questions on Twitter and then pressed record as I was driving from Columbus to Champaign in my (totally not stolen) rental car. I say "totally not stolen" because, well, just listen to the first five minutes. 

You might have seen Mitch Gilfillan offering legal clarifications regarding the Terrence Shannon case on Twitter. With the news today that Shannon has been granted his TRO against the University, returning him to the roster and the rotation, I spoke to Mitch this evening to ask maybe a dozen legal questions. This was very helpful for me - I hope it's helpful for you as well. 

I asked for questions on Twitter and Slack and then answered those questions live on the air. And then Carmen called me while I was recording so his phone call went in this pod as well. Also, I finished by playing some Richard Wagner through the car speakers and recording it with my laptop. As always, this is the finest podcast audio possible. 

I had noticed him the first half. A guy wearing an Ayo jersey in the front row of the Illinois section getting his entire section to stand up and make noise. I tweeted about it, and then I tweeted about it some more, and then, after the win, I went over to talk to him. That's this conversation. After that conversation, I wander through the arena back to my seat while rambling on and on about how good we might be. 

I waited 45 minutes to see if I even wanted to publish it. It's 22 minutes long. I went to the spot where I recorded the audio during Covid and I just kept talking and talking.  So this is a warning. I think this the most painful loss of my lifetime (not with the most on the line, just the most pain I can experience), and people immediately reacted to that statement negatively on Twitter, and so I talked about all of that. There's no game analysis here. Just feelings analysis. You have been warned.  I decided to publish because of the promise I made 14 years ago. From The Stands = my raw emotions the moment a game is over. These are those emotions. 

What can I say? We were all thinking it, and then what we were thinking happened. And for me, he happened inside a giddy Iowa pressbox. I went to find an empty room to record this... and I ended up right next to an Iowa celebration in the booth next door.  That kind of day. 

Apologies for posting this late but my granddaughter was at the tailgate so I recorded this, ran directly to the tailgate without passing go, and didn't even think about posting this until 4 hours later.  Here I am trying to process ~all of that~. 

85 yards. He came into the game on 4th and 11 with a minute left at his own 15 and he needed to lead his team 85 yards for the winning touchdown. That's the distance he needed to go in that photo right there. And it took him three throws.  For maybe the second time in From The Stands history, I have a special guest for this one. Ladies and gentlemen, here's crazy Illini fan John Paddock joining me for the first four minutes of this 15 minute FTS. 

I convinced Carmen to join me on the train for this road trip. And since we had nothing better to do, I asked for questions on Twitter and Slack and Carmen and I spent some time in the observation car answering those questions.  We're interrupted by the conductor on the PA about ten times, but in between those announcements, we got to most of the questions. Sorry about the audio quality but... we're on a train. 

Skip ahead. Seriously, just skip ahead a few times. I kind of find a point around the 10 minute mark but really it's just 22 minutes of me lamenting that pouring your heart into a team leads to pain while pointing and laughing at your team (and mocking those who believe) is a much safer way to go.  Also, I had to check the “explicit” button here because I drop my first-ever From The Stands F-bomb. It just slipped out. Sorry. 

Well this stomach bug might have kept me from attending but it wasn't going to stop me from recording From The Stands. I simply turned it FTS into From The Back Yard. Special guest: Lucy. 

This is a long one (18 minutes) but it was a lot to process. Lose 20-7 to Nebraska? 2-4 on the season? 0-3 in the Big Ten? A LOT to process. 

I did not see this coming. At all. Lose to a 1-3 Purdue team 44-19? What? This is me sitting in the stands trying to process it all. 

This From The Stands is from the field after the 23-17 win over Florida Atlantic. And the first half is just me blabbering about when to take a knee. But... a win. 

I needed a quiet spot so I went into the empty AD suite after the game and recorded FTS. 1-1 and I feel... not great, Bob. 

I couldn't be more exhausted. I nearly pulled my hair out. But I'm going to sleep soundly because of one great throw and one great catch. 

As we do before each season, Craig and I choose our guys. The categories: Keeper pick Offensive star Defensive star Offensive breakout player Defensive breakout player Future star on the offense Future star on the defense Walkon

We've reached the end! The complete history of Illini football from 1991 to present - with a first bonus episode covering the decade of the 80's - is now complete. In this final episode, Martin O'Donnell and I discuss the last four years of Illini football. Here's everything you needed to know about 2019 through 2022. Presenting sponsor for this podcast series: U of I Community Credit Union.

In the second-to-last episode of this series, Jonny from The BoardRoom (our basketball podcast) joins me to discuss 2015 through 2018. We start with the Bill Cubit interim year and end with the third year of the Lovie regime. Not the best era of Illini football, but there was still a lot to talk about. This Illini Football history class series is being presented by UofI Community Credit Union. 

Former Illini Football SID Derek Neal joins me for 3+ hours (yes, this episode is 3 hours and 5 minutes) of talk about Illini Football from 2011 to 2014. It starts with the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl season and ends with the Zaxby's Heart Of Dallas Bowl. Well, this episode actually ends in the spring and summer of 2015 with the Beckman investigation. We basically take it right up to the start of the 2015 season. But we pretty much had to go three hours because A LOT happened in these four seasons. This podcast series is sponsored by UofI Community Credit Union. 

Last week took us down. This week takes us back up. 2007~2010 was a great time to be an Illini football fan. As a freshman on campus in 2007, @BobZuppke got to see a Rose Bowl his freshman year and a Texas Bowl his senior year. So this episode is Bob & I talking about some good seasons. Well, and a frustrating season in 2008. Ok, yes, and a maddening season in 2009. But it's still bookended with two bowls. Which was a great stretch during this era. 

We went a different direction with this one. These four seasons saw eight total wins - only two of them Big Ten wins - so a game-by-game breakdown of each season would be too depressing. So Nathan and I talk some about the seasons but more about the journey of the Illini football fan through such low points. Also discussed: how to survive academic probation. A big thanks to the sponsor for this summer podcast series: U of I Community Credit Union. 

The last episode: 10 wins and a tie (over four seasons). The next episode: 8 wins in four years. This episode? 28 wins. Erik (The Stats!) joins me to talk Illini football from 1999 to 2002. This summer podcast series is being brought to you by U of I Community Credit Union.

Next up: 1995~1998. And I'm gonna warn you right now - that means we'll discuss 10 total wins and one tie across four seasons. But that's the fun of a series like this, right? Craig is my guest for (he was a freshman in 1996), so he remembers a lot about these difficult seasons. They were eventually building to something. We just won't get to that until next week. Once again a big thank you to the sponsor for this podcast series, UofI Community Credit Union. To see the list of branches I discuss in the intro, click here. 

Next up in this summer podcast series (published every Wednesday): 1991~1994. I was a freshman in 1991, and my guest, Detlef, was a sophomore, so this episode is filled with memories from the student section. A big thank you to the sponsor for this podcast series, UofI Community Credit Union. If you'd like to see the credit card with the orange Block I that was referenced in this episode, go to this page.  

We're back! Last summer it was the complete history of Illini Basketball, 1980 to present. This summer, over the next nine weeks, we'll be going through the complete Illini Football history, 1980 to present. We will begin our deep exploration of each season starting next week with 1991~1994 (which starts with my freshman year at Illinois). For this episode, Loren Tate joins me to go through the entire decade of the 80's, Dave Wilson to Jason Verduzco. This series is being presented by U of I Community Credit Union. 

Interviews from the first three days at the NCAA Golf Championships in Scottsdale including Adrien Dumont de Chassart, Jackson Buchanan, and Head Coach Mike Small. Plus some of my thoughts on the trip so far. 

Here's another "bonus" episode - a five minute chat with head coach Mike Small after the second round at the NCAA's where the Illini surged into the lead.

This is a very short bonus episode. It's my quick thoughts after the first round of the NCAA Golf Championship followed by a quick interview with Illini coach Mike Small and another quick interview with senior Tommy Kuhl. 

Kevin had a few months off. What to do? Follow his favorite band on tour? Backpack through Europe? He chose to spend his winter following Illini basketball around the country. In this episode, we talk about his travels. 

Andy Johnson of The Fried Egg joins me to discuss Mike Small's golf program. And we can't help but talk a little Illini football and a lot of Illini basketball. 

Coach Bielema and I went to dinner last night and talked football (and life). This is that conversation. 

Carmen and I attended the open practice and then immediately sat down to record our thoughts. 

Tyler (Walkon) and I discuss the 2023 Illini season while Tyler watches UCLA-Gonzaga in the background and I pretend like the Tournament ended last Thursday. 

I chat with ESPN's John Gasaway about the Big Ten race entering the stretch run. And we might talk a little bit about dream scenarios for our Illini. 

Illini basketball has reached the 20 game mark at 14-6. So Tyler and I discuss what's happened so far and what's to come. 

Warning: long pod. I had a 7.5 hour drive from Champaign to Lincoln today, so I took 2.5 of those hours and talked to myself. You sent in questions, I answered them while driving down the highway. Yes, it's seriously 2.5 hours long. 

I'm always honest in these, right? Well, this is how I felt immediately after this loss. 

@BobZuppke and I discuss the thing we've all been discussing this season. The line between "in no way could I ever be angry about an 8-4 football season" vs. "oh man we were inches from 10-2 or 11-1." And then, an hour in, with a simple question from Bob, we land on a stat that dwarfs everything. 

My mood is 10 times better than I thought it would be. 8-4 Illini football is the stuff of dreams for me, and I'm so content inside that dream. Here's my thoughts from the field right after the game. 

This one is less than eight minutes long. I finally found a place out of the wind and recorded some thoughts. 

I'm only posting this because I've posted a From The Stands after every game since 2010. So I feel obligated. But this is just 26 minutes of a devastated guy processing emotions and making everything all about how bad he feels. I already hate every second of it. But I promised to make these as raw as possible, and this is me being raw immediately after the game. This one HURTS. 

Ouch. 

Nathan (who writes the Postscript article every Monday on the site) and I discuss the 7-1 Illini. I want to type that again. Nathan and I discuss The University Of Illinois Fighting Illini, a football team with a 7-1 record on the season. 7-1. 

This is what we've been waiting for. 

Now, when I say "youngest son", he's 27. So don't get to thinking this is me recording a podcast episode with a nine year-old. But we're driving from Idaho to Lincoln, Nebraska today. So we decided to hit record.