Illinois Fighting Illini Football

It's been a busy morning, very fired up for this first practice. It's ball time, baby! http://twitter.com/RonZook...

Thanks to Illinois wrestling coach Mark Johnson, filling the vacancy created by his surprise retirement announcement Monday shouldn't be hard. The top coach in Illinois history, the Rock Island native made Illinois wrestling relevant again. He took over a...

Hint: He now makes millions playing a different sport, and once dated Scarlett Johansson and Jessica Biel. Yes, it's Derek Jeter, whose mom once again forgot to bring the post-game orange slices....

Here in the states, soccer players have a bad reputation. I have to admit, even as an avid soccer fan, that some of it is deserved. There is a culture of let’s-call-it-gamesmanship in soccer that lends itself to dives, to kicking the ball away before free kicks, to stalling and just generally being sort of [...]

We don’t know if this man was an Ohio State fan, but…he was. It’s a biblical certainty. 30 miles east of Columbus, police found what could only be properly described as “The gloriously fractured wreck of what was once the most majestic thing ever” on the side of the road: a barstool outfitted with wheels [...]

Posted by ESPN.com's Adam Rittenberg My colleague Tim Griffin has an interesting piece over at the Big 12 blog about Phil Taylor, the former Penn State defensive tackle who transferred to Baylor after being dismissed from the program last summer.  Taylor was among the swell of Penn State players involved in off-field incidents in 2007 and early 2008. He pleaded guilty to misdemeanor disorderly conduct for his role in an a fight at the Penn State student union in October 2007. Teammate Navorro... Bowman pleaded guilty to the same charge and went on to earn first-team All-Big Ten honors as a linebacker last fall, but Taylor and fellow defensive linemen Chris Baker were kicked off the team in July.  Taylor didn't want to discuss Penn State too much, but he did say he was treated unfairly "because there were a lot of others in the same situation for similar things there." There was also this tidbit: "He is already struck by the difference in the leadership styles of Baylor coach Art Briles and [Joe] Paterno. 'I've been around a lot of teams, but here, it's more loose,' Taylor said. 'The coach lets us have fun. We still work very hard and do the things that we are supposed to do. But it's not quite as regimented as it was there -- do this, don't do that.' The feeling around the program is different, too, Taylor said. 'Here, they treat us more like adults,' he said." That's certainly a dig at Penn State, which has an old-school culture largely because of its old-school coach. But Paterno was in a pretty tough spot last summer after Penn State's reputation had been challenged. Many viewed his dismissals of Taylor and Baker as reactionary moves.  Penn State shifted the focus back to the field by going 11-2 and winning a share of the Big Ten title. Plus, player conduct has improved significantly during the last six months.more>>

Normally, these types of highlight reel posts are saved for the LeBrons and Howards of the world, but sometimes you run across something that’s just so cool, you can’t help but sharing. Yes, the dunk in the lead video is a nice one with plenty of authority, but for me, the reason it’s so [...]A post from the Intentional Foul Sports Blog, sponsored by Ticket Solutions. Can Your Pops Dunk Like This?

Last night, I went to Madison Square Garden for the first time since I caught the circus there at age four, and one thing was immediately clear—Ranger fans love Sean Avery. The crowd was...