We're Loyal to You, Illinois...

...We're "Orange and Blue," Illinois,
We'll back you so stand
'Gainst the best in the land,
For we know you have sand, Illinois,
Rah! Rah!

In case anyone has missed it, Joe and I are HUGE University of Illinois fans. For both us, this started before we graduated from there, and continues to today. It was not easy living in "Hawkeye country" for that year as Iowa and Illinois are mortal enemies! One of Joe's all time biggest regrets is that he did not attend a basketball game during the "Flying Illini" team of 1989 when they went to the Final Four. So, when he heard about the "Night of Legends" that U of I was hosting this past Saturday, he was immediately calling for tickets. This night was a scrimmage basketeball game of past U of I greats (Gill, Anderson, Deron Williams, Dee, Battle, Bardo, etc.) plus the dedication of about 30 Illini basketball jerseys.

Ahh, the Quad. The best place at U of I. It is fairly empty right now, but you can imagine how packed it could get between classes, or on a beautiful weekend, or even in winter with students having fun with some major snowball fights. I cannot tell you how many times I sat out there to study, hang out, listen to the kooky preacher guy who was on the Quad every single day at lunch time (I cannot remember his name now), and I still cannot figure out why the college thought it would be a good idea to turn on the water sprinklers when the bars let out - it made for some really fun walks home. For those who do not know, I am standing outside of Follinger Auditorium and that is the Union Building straight ahead.


The reason for the "game". Here are the jerseys that were dedicated for the Illini basketball great.

This is Joe's all time favorite player - in both college and pro levels. #13 Kendall Gill (that is him in the orange shirt in front of the banner). We (Joe) waited for about 20 minutes after the event with the hopes of getting yet another autograph but had no luck. His fascination of this man can border on stalking at times!