Breakout Candidate Profile: James Paxton

Six-foot-four, 220 pounds, a power left handed arm with a career 2.66 career ERA. Who would you think I AM talking about? David Price? Clayton Kershaw? Chris Sale? Aroldis Chapman?

No.

Seattle’s James Paxton.

Rapid Reaction: Illini Storm Back To Stun Michigan

Wasn't it nice to be on the other end of one of those games where a team completely falls apart, opening the door for an exciting finish?

Nice to be on the other end of this type of a game for once #Illini #ILLvsMICH
— Seth (@Seth_SportsTalk) February 13, 2015

The Illinois Fighting Illini had been on too many of the wrong end of that scenario, being the team that fell apart. Thursday night, with about five minutes to play in the game, Illinois found their groove and their rhythm, stormed back to completely stun Michigan and put a dagger into the NCAA  tournament hopes of the Wolverines.

Breakout Candidate Profile: Kennys Vargas & Oswaldo Arcia

Ladies and gentlemen, all those of you who follow me know I’m high on the Chicago Cubs and their future. No I’m not a Cubs fan, but it really doesn’t take a genius to sit back and see what that franchise is doing and think, “my God, it’s not will they win a championship, but how many”, amIright?

Well I come to to you today to say, they may be butting heads in an October near you with the Minnesota Twins.

No I’m not doing do my Twins preview early, I’m here to profile two mighty powerful hitters you may, or may not, know about, that are going to have tremendous 2015 campaigns.

Breakout Candidate Profile: Marcell Ozuna

Friends, I come to you today with a question for you.

Do you ever get in the draft room, your draft is going great; you’ve got all your sleeper picks, Zack Greinke fell to you in the fourth round after you passed because you needed power, you’ve found that under the radar guy, or a guy you think no one knows about, and then your buddy, the only guy you’ve told about this particular player, goes and grabs your mancrush? Or even worse, the guy in your league who has no idea who he is grabs him because he saw his picture in a Matthew Berry article or in a Tweet by some second rate fantasy service?

We’ve all been there, am I right?

Breakout Candidate Profile: Travis d'Arnaud

Readers, believe it or not, we are literally days away from pitchers and catchers reporting. I don’t get excited like the overzealous baseball fan does because honestly 9 weeks of over analzying and over-discussing everything just gets tiresome, not to mention there’s a perfectly awesome college basketball season and NHL campaign going on that should more than hold the sports fan’s attention for at least another month.

But that said, it is never too early to start thinking fantasy baseball. I don’t know how deep some of you play, but I’m in a league that goes almost year ‘round. (We take a break for about two weeks after the World Series and every body is in full fledge get better mode)

Purdue Win Opens Door for Strong Finish For Illinois

Let me say up front, I could not watch the Illinois basketball game Wednesday night as they hosted Purdue, but I intently followed on Twitter and watched highlights on a couple different sites.

So that said, here’s what I took away:

Strugglin' Illini Looking For Good News

Thursday afternoon, another big time prospect targeted by Illinois coach John Groce snubbed the program for yet another powerhouse program. So where does this leave Illinois basketball and the program’s leader?

Before I go much farther, I want to be clear, I’m not calling for Groce to lose his job, nor am I saying he is not the right man to lead the program. If you follow me on social media, you might think I am anti-Groce.

The Case For Jay Cutler

I'm laughing out loud looking at Jay Cutler's 2014 stats and trying to figure out why HE'S getting benched Sunday.

I’ve maintained since the beginning of time, Jay Cutler was the right move for the Bears to make if they wanted to move their franchise forward and compete with the Green Bays and New Orleans Saints of the world. As I sit back and look at what Jay Cutler has done this year, and in year’s past, I just can’t help but scratch my head at the amount of illogical thinking going on in Chicago (nothing new for that town), and here’s where I’m at.

The Good and the Bad of the 2014-15 Fighting Illini

The Illinois basketball program enters perhaps one of the most important weeks under John Groce as they play at “neutral” sites against Villanova and Oregon.

Despite Shake Up, Okaw Valley Conference Maintains Sustained Success in Football

It was about 18 months ago the demise of one of Illinois’ most prestigious athletic conferences began, and this weekend played out exactly why the breakup was so petty and irresponsible.

The former 12-member Okaw Valley Conference of central Illinois was the premier league to be a part. State champions and annual powers of almost every sport were a part of it.

But when certain member schools became less competitive, mainly on the football field, grumbling and hard feelings began to build up among those members.

Starting last spring, discussions began among disgruntled administrators about seceding from the league. Once gathering enough support, it came to pass nine of the twelve conference members left, forming the new Central Illinois Conference, all for the sake of being more competitive in football.

Maroa-Forsyth, Monticello, and Tolono Unity were left to piece together a new look Okaw Valley Conference and came away with a seemingly daunting and intimidating new Okaw Valley Conference, welcoming St. Joseph-Ogden, Champaign St. Thomas More and Rantoul.

In the process, leaving the eight who vacated the league to begin their own league, with major egg in their face.

As if it wasn’t evident at the time, it certainly was this weekend.

Four schools from each conference played first round playoff games.

Four of the six members of the new Okaw made the playoffs, and interestingly enough, all advanced this weekend.

Three of the four from the new Central Illinois Conference did not fare as well. Sullivan, Shelbyville and Decatur St. Teresa all lost in the first round by a combined 45 points. Tuscola was the only winner from the CIC this weekend, who beat fellow conference member, Shelbyville.

So in the end, was it worth it?

To those administrators that felt a conference switch would make them more competitive, was the switch worth it?

Yes in the first year, you were able to get your school a tenth game of the season, which I suppose was the goal, but did you really win?

Sullivan-Okaw Valley played two non-conference games against teams with a 3-15 record, and played three of their nine regular season games against teams with a winning record.

Shelbyville played two non-conference games against teams with an even 9-9 record, and played just four of their nine games against teams with a winning record.

I reserve judgement on Decatur St. Teresa and Tuscola because of the fact they had success in the former Okaw Valley Conference and have also had success in the postseason.

But I still maintain for all, was the switch worth it?

From where I sit after the first week of the IHSA playoffs, it would appear the goal was achieved. Sullivan and Shelbyville made the postseason.

But look closer, schools such as Maroa-Forsyth, Monticello and Tolono Unity perennially make the postseason, however, the expectation is not just a postseason appearance, but to be playing into the second, third and Thanksgiving weekend of November.

If the Central Illinois Conference really wanted to do what was best for their student athletes as a whole, and not just the football teams, they would have remained in the old Okaw Valley Conference.

Say what they want about the breakup, but since it began, it was clearly football driven, which completely contradicts their public statements about doing what is best for their student athletes.

And for forward thinking individuals like myself and many others, what took place among Central Illinois Conference members this weekend, was in no way a surprise.

How do they say it? Competition breeds success. It’s very apparent a football frail Central Illinois Conference was more detrimental than a football strong former and new Okaw Valley Conference.

In a world where perception is reality, the new Central Illinois Conference image appears to be a handful of sore losers who want mediocrity to become the standard for success. And for schools like Maroa-Forsyth, Monticello and Tolono Unity, and throw in St. Joseph-Ogden for good measure, a no excuses driven brand continues to get results and only strengthen their image.