Anderson/Rowe Capture NCAA Doubles Title

Illini duo enters record books with straight set triumph

May 29, 2006

PALO ALTO, Calif. - University of Illinois All-Americans Kevin Anderson and Ryan Rowe captured the 2006 NCAA men's doubles championship at Stanford's Taube Tennis Center on Monday afternoon. The fourth-ranked and third-seeded sophomore tandem improved to 23-1 and won their 10th consecutive match with a 6-2, 6-4 win against the No. 2 seeded duo of Andre Begemann and Scott Doerner of the 2006 national champion Pepperdine team.

"Ryan and I have had a great semester playing together," Anderson said. "It doesn't get any better than this - this has been a great experience. We had the opportunity to prove that we're the number one doubles team in the country and we took advantage of it."

"I feel great," Rowe said. "We had to battle early in the tournament and we started playing our best towards the end. Right now I'm just enjoying the moment and I look forward to improving my game this summer.

"Today was one of our best matches," Rowe continued. "It was probably our best match of the year. We hit our serves, used our size to our advantage and it all came together."

Anderson/Rowe Capture NCAA Doubles Title

UI's plan to go after more out-of-state students dropped

URBANA – The University of Illinois has backed off a controversial plan to increase its enrollment of out-of-state students.

The plan, which came out of the university's strategic planning process, has drawn some criticism in recent months, and two legislators last week called for a review of the proposed policy.

The most recent draft of the UI's strategic plan does not outline any specific goals for increasing enrollment of out-of-state-students, but administrators have discussed the idea's merit in public for several months.

UI President B. Joseph White, while speaking at a University YMCA lecture series in February, said he could see the ratio of in-state to out-of-state students increasing to 85 percent/15 percent from the current 90/10.

Just last week Chancellor Richard Herman defended the plan while meeting with Chicago-area high school counselors.

"The modest increase that had been proposed was intended to improve the educational experience for Illinois residents, not to limit opportunity for them," said Herman in a statement released Monday afternoon. "However, since our constituents have made it clear that access is their highest priority, we feel it is important to listen and respond to their genuine concerns," he added.

UI's plan to go after more out-of-state students dropped

Some recent UI news

Building, renovation projects OK'd by UI board

UI hits milestone of 500,000 degrees

New alumni center on campus opens doors with activities

#7 Illini tennis team advances to the Sweet 16!

The Fighting Illini (24-6) swept its matches in the first two rounds of the men's NCAA tennis tournament in Louisville, Kentucky over the weekend. They took out Western Illinois (14-8) 4-0 in a first round match and then defeated host school Louisville (18-8) 4-0 in the second round. Next, it's on to Palo Alto, California and Stanford University and the NCAA Sweet 16 where they will face #10-seed UCLA (19-5).

First Round: Illinois 4, Western Illinois 0

Second Round: Illinois 4, Louisville 0

Sweet 16 @ Stanford University - May 20-29
#1 Georgia (26-0) vs. Notre Dame (19-8)
#2 Pepperdine (32-2) vs. Florida (17-7)
#3 Texas (24-3) vs. #14 Mississippi (22-5)
#4 Duke (22-6) vs. #13 Stanford (17-3)
#5 Baylor (22-6) vs. Washington (20-5)
#6 Ohio State (27-1) vs. #11 North Carolina (25-4)
#7 Illinois (24-6) vs. #10 UCLA (19-5)
#8 Virginia (23-8) vs. #9 Miami (FL) (20-4)

House aims to block NCAA ban

Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) and Champaign representative Timothy Johnson (R-Ill.) introduced legislation Thursday intending to prevent the NCAA from interfering with the autonomy of its member institutions, Johnson's office announced yesterday.

House Resolution 5289, called the Protection of University Governance Act of 2006, constrains the NCAA's ability to use a member institution's nickname, symbols or mascot as a reason for imposing sanctions against that school. It would allow affected colleges and universities to sue the NCAA, seeking both a court order to stop the decision and damages to cover attorneys' fees and damages lost from not hosting postseason competitions.

"Local economies across the country would be impacted if the NCAA's recent decisions are allowed to prevail unchecked," Johnson said in the press release. "As indicated by the sponsors who have signed on and who will continue to sign on, this is not a Republican grievance or a Democratic grievance. The NCAA's presumed authority is a grievance against us all.

...

"The NCAA was established as a sports management association," Johnson said. "The organization has since assumed the mantle of social arbiters. They need to go back to scheduling ballgames and leave the social engineering to others."

House aims to block NCAA ban

Cool Web site: TopSecretRecipes.com

Now THIS is a cool site!

TopSecretRecipes.com

They even have a FREE recipe for my all-time favorite ranch dressing from Outback Steakhouse!!!
:-)

Moussaoui Gets Life for Role in Sept. 11

Rot in hell, Moussaoui!!!

ALEXANDRIA, Va. - Al-Qaida conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui escaped the death penalty Wednesday as a jury decided he deserved life in prison instead for his role in the bloodiest terrorist attack in U.S. history. "America, you lost," Moussaoui taunted.

After seven days of deliberation, the nine men and three women rebuffed the government's appeal for death for the only person charged in this country in the four suicide jetliner hijackings that killed nearly 3,000 people on Sept. 11, 2001.

Three jurors said Moussaoui had only limited knowledge of the Sept. 11 plot, and three described his role in the attacks as minor, if he had any role at all.

Moussaoui, as he was led from the courtroom after the 15-minute hearing, said: "America, you lost. ... I won." He clapped his hands as he was escorted away.

Moussaoui Gets Life for Role in Sept. 11

SDSU's Holdren transferring to Illinois

This kid can flat-out play ball! What a nice surprise to have him in an Illini uniform next fall!!!

SDSU's Holdren transferring to Illinois

Gophers drop three of four games to Illini

The Illini are now at .500 in the Big Ten and sitting all alone in fourth place after taking back-to-back weekend series from Iowa and Minnesota.

The Dome just wasn’t homelike for Minnesota’s baseball team this weekend.

With three losses to Illinois this weekend, the Gophers are below .500 at the Metrodome this season and are sitting below the same number in conference play.

Minnesota’s (22-20, 9-11 Big Ten) 16-8 loss Sunday to the Illini (23-19, 10-10 Big Ten) pushes the Gophers into a four-way tie for fifth place in the Big Ten.

Gophers drop three of four games to Illini

NCAA upholds Chief restrictions

The University of Illinois will not be allowed to host NCAA championship events unless it eliminates its symbol Chief Illiniwek.

Leaders of the NCAA today announced they were upholding the association's previous decision to restrict the use of American Indian mascots, imagery and symbols at NCAA championships.

The decision means the UI will only be invited to participate in NCAA championships if it does not have Native American references on uniforms or associated athletic program activities, according to the NCAA.

NCAA Executive Committee Chair Walter Harrison said the policy does not mandate universities discontinue the use nicknames or images, but it "preserves the sanctity of NCAA championship sites by precluding them from hosting championships events," he said.

"The University of Illinois is disappointed by the NCAA Executive Committee's final decision to uphold a policy that is capricious in its design and implementation," said UI Board of Trustees Chair Lawrence Eppley in a written statement. "The NCAA's insistence on dictating social policy for a few select member institutions intrudes on the University of Illinois Board of Trustees' autonomy and the board's process for reaching a consensus conclusion on issues regarding the Chief Illiniwek tradition. In determining a course to follow, we will consider our options in the context of the NCAA's final pronouncement and the consensus process guidelines adopted by the (UI) board," he added.

The NCAA announcement comes about eight months after the NCAA issued a policy prohibiting postseason competition events at schools with "hostile or abusive" racial, ethnic or national origin mascots. The UI was one of 18 schools included on the list of such schools.

The UI first appealed the policy last fall and the NCAA responded by stating the UI could use the names "Illini" and "Fighting Illini," but not Chief Illiniwek. Since then, the UI has sent additional responses to the NCAA regarding the use of Chief Illiniwek.

The UI has said that the NCAA Executive Committee exceeded its authority when it decided American Indian imagery was a "core issue" and that the NCAA set policy without following its bylaws. The UI has also, in its appeals, requested the NCAA to respect institutional autonomy and allow the university to address the issue.

NCAA upholds Chief restrictions

Air Gordon

Nice interview... I LOVE this guy!!! I can't wait to see him in orange and blue!!!

Air Gordon

A little background on Bruce Pearl

A must-read for all Illini fans...

Bruce Pearl: Get ready, rat, because the Illini are comin'

Gordon sticking with college choice

This sounds great! Way to go, EJ!!!

Gordon sticking with college choice

Illini sweep Hawkeyes!!!

More good stuff from Illinois Field on Saturday, where the Illini won a close Game 1 and pummeled Iowa in Game 2 of a sun-splashed doubleheader. A huge crowd of 2485 showed up at the ballpark and nearly all of them thoroughly enjoyed the action and the results. Illinois is 3-0 against Iowa this season and is going for the series (and regular season) sweep today in Champaign.

Pitching, Power Spur Illini DH Sweep: Illinois Wins 4-3 in Opener, 10-2 in Nightcap

Illini pound Iowa, 12-3!

The Illini blow out the UFI Hawkeyes in Game 1 of the weekend series!!!

Whitmore, Homers Bring 12-3 Illini Win:
Five Illini Have Multiple Hits; Whitmore Strong in 1st Start of 2006

Columnist makes $1.5M endowment at U. of I.

Syndicated columnist and TV commentator Robert Novak says he owes his success to the University of Illinois, and now he's repaying that debt.

Novak has decided to endow a $1.5 million chair in Western civilization and culture at the U. of I.'s Urbana-Champaign campus.

Columnist makes $1.5M endowment at U. of I.

Ryan guilty of all charges

CHICAGO - Former Gov. George Ryan was convicted Monday of steering millions of dollars in state leases and contracts to political insiders, lying to federal agents and tax fraud, becoming the third former Illinois governor in as many decades to be convicted of federal felony charges.

Ryan, 72, sat stone-faced as U.S. District Judge Rebecca R. Pallmeyer read the verdict convicting him of racketeering conspiracy, mail fraud, tax fraud and lying to the FBI.

Co-defendant Larry Warner, 67, a Ryan friend and Chicago lobbyist, also was convicted of all charges in a six-month trial that was the climax of the state's biggest political corruption scandal in decades.

"I hope this case begins the end of political prostitution that seems to have been evident in the state of Illinois and begins a resurrection of honest government and services in this state that so many people have demanded," said Robert Grant, head of the FBI's Chicago office.

Ryan guilty of all charges

Champaign family gets up-close look at tornado

The News-Gazette has this story of Sunday's round of severe weather in central Illinois:

MATTOON – G. David Frye, his wife L.B, and their three sons were headed for their Champaign home late Sunday afternoon after an Easter celebration in Cape Girardeau, Mo., when dark skies over Coles County caught their attention.

"We stopped north of Mattoon because it looked bad," Frye said, adding their first stop was at a gas station, where they called a friend in Champaign to see what the weather was doing at home.

The report was that things were settling down so after a few minutes' wait, they got back on Interstate 57 and headed north again.

"It looked really bad," he said. His wife was driving and they pulled to the side of the road.

"I happened to see this cloud formation several miles to the west. I'm a pilot. I'd seen pictures of this before," he said.

So he got out a video camera and started taping.

Champaign family gets up-close look at tornado

University of Iowa campus hit by tornado

Here's a link to the CNN story:

Tornadoes rip through eastern Iowa, killing one

And here are two links to some video of this F2 tornado:

Tornado in Iowa City
Tornado Hits Iowa City, AS IT HAPPENED!!!

Congrats to Paxton, Illinois' own Tom Meents, the 2006 Monster Jam World Finals Freestyle Champion!!!

Tom Meents, Congratulations on winning the 2006 Monster Jam World Finals Freestyle Championship. How does it feel to be back on top?

It feels great. It feels awesome. I worked really hard for it this year. I'm really happy that I did it and pulled it off without no controversy.

How happy are you with your winning run?

Real happy. It could've been a little better in a couple areas from what I've seen. I haven't had a good look at it yet but there's a couple minor things that I could've made better but it was a pretty good run overall.

How much of it is planned out and how much of it is impromptu?

Well definitely the first move was planned out, quite a bit of the rest of it was planned out but near the end quite a bit of it was impromptu. I actually broke a rear steering centering cable. So there for a while the rear end was turned and so you gotta make due with what you got you know? You can't wait any longer so you gotta go with what it gives ya.

TOM MEENTS: A FEW MINUTES WITH THE 2006 MONSTER JAM WORLD FINALS FREESTYLE CHAMPION