UIUC vs IU Rd 2

[Da Coach]

ESPN's Jay Bilas calls out Illini players and fans--

Bilas calls out Illini on behavior
Pregame chant, bump during introductions bring criticism from TV broadcaster

http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080209/SPORTS0601/802090475/-1/LOCAL17

The Chicago Sun Times writer Jay Mariotti is even harsher on the Illini--

A sad, classless scene in Champaign
Chester Frazier and Illinois fans went overboard in harassing Eric Gordon. It??™s time to concentrate on rebuilding the program
http://www.suntimes.com/sports/mariotti/783871,020808mariotti.article



Illinois AD Ron Guenther, and coach Bruce Weber issue apology to Indiana--

http://www.pantagraph.com/articles/2008/02/08/usports/doc47acf773ad842358319447.txt

[tornado]

Just a bunch of poorly respected journalists piling on as if they are the first ones to discover that Illinois is having a bad year.
Mariotti in particular has trashed people in the past, only to be shown to have drawn bad conclusions and made things up, well....just because he believes good journalism is equated with trashing people he doesn't like.
(hmmm...this is sounding familiar....)
He has trashed Ozzie Guillen, Frank Thomas, Mike Ditka, and just about every local sports figure, team, and personality.
How many newspaper columnists have their own
"firejaymariotti.com" website?
The guy is the absolute poster child for really, really bad journalism, and has discredited himself so badly, and so often, there really isn't anyone left who thinks the guy is even relevant any more.

http://firejaymariotti.blogspot.com/2007/11/post-number-one-thousand-billion.html

Oh, and don't forget, just a couple seasons ago, the entire Indiana crowd did every bit as much as the Illini crowd did, AND plenty more when Sean May came with his UNC team to play at IU.

[IlliBraves]

I swear sometimes sportswriters blow stories out of proportion because they have nothing else to write about. Stories always have to have some type of conspiracy, or an outlined "bad guy" in their story. I don't see what the big deal is. I might agree to some but not all extent on the chest bump, which was played down by both coaches, but only one fan threw things and that was only in response to the extremely rude Gordon family. Everybody knew what this game was going to be. The fact that EG got booed every time he touched the ball was expected.

[tornado]

Oh, and don't forget, just a couple seasons ago, the entire Indiana crowd did every bit as much as the Illini crowd did, AND plenty more when Sean May came with his UNC team to play at IU.

I see it actually happened a whole lot more recently....
as head coach Sampson had to issue an apology after the terrible treatment
by the IU fans of the players and fans from UConn just a little over a week ago.

http://iuhoosiers.cstv.com/sports/m-baskbl/spec-rel/012908aab.html

[IlliBraves]

Oh, I thought I had mentioned that?

Yeah, they chanted "F--- you, refs!"

[tornado]

Here's even another reminder for the IU fans -- a blast from the past...

A Louisville writer talks about how Luke Recker was treated when he went to play for Iowa, then returned to play a game at IU,

"IU fans ..... ought not forget the welcome Luke Recker got in Bloomington six years ago.

The 1997 Indiana Mr. Basketball from DeKalb was a standout swingman for IU for two seasons before infuriating the Hoosier faithful by transferring to Arizona, saying IU's style was not preparing him for the NBA. He never played for the Wildcats, however. A car crash that summer left his girlfriend paralyzed and Recker with multiple injuries, and he transferred to Iowa.

The Hawkeyes played Indiana five times in Recker's two seasons on the team but only once in Bloomington -- 2002. The fans at Assembly Hall sounded as if they'd been lying in wait for three years.
Chants of "traitor" and much worse rained down on the Big Ten's leading scorer all night as he was held to eight points in IU's 79-51 romp. One fan held up a sign that read "Indiana's Most Wanted" and had photos of Recker and Osama Bin Laden.

"I'd like to know if there's any other kid in the country who went through what I had to go through tonight," Recker said afterward. "The fact it was Indiana we were playing, the fact I was an Indiana kid, the fact that I started two years here and played decent. Nobody probably in college basketball is going to have to go through a situation like I went through tonight."

http://www.courier-journal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2008802100568

In addition, others are pointing out how the fans chanted threats against Greg Oden, and he even got death threats.