CHAMPAIGN, Ill.- Comparing a sports stadium to a UFO is almost clichAc these days—well at least in Chicago. If I hear another person say that a UFO crashed into the old Soldier Field I'll find them faster than Mark Anderson looking for Drew Brees.
But all jokes aside, there really is a UFO at the corner of 1st Ave and Kirby Ave. in Champaign, Ill. I'm not kidding. And the I-L-L-I-N-I play basketball inside that UFO.
United Airlines workers at O'Hare airport swear they saw a ""saucer looking object"" a few months back, but it was most likely just Assembly Hall taking a joyride around the state of Illinois.
Actually, it's quite a cool atmosphere inside. It's like a mini-Metrodome except the designer was smarter than the idiot who decided to inflate that bubble in downtown Minneapolis. You inflate basketballs, footballs, soccer balls, but you don't inflate buildings.
And there isn't that feeling in Assembly Hall that you are playing inside a dark cave with giant spotlights focusing on only the court while the people in the third tier use flashlights to find their popcorn. The building also features a rowdy and devoted group of basketball fans who all manage to wear the same color even when they are not told to do so (although Saturday's game against UW was a designated game where the fans were instructed to wear orange). The fans can spell the word ""Illini"" and the players can score and play defense. That combination sounds simple but makes it rare for a road team to come in and win—so even with a No. 2 ranking and 19-1 record, don't underestimate the importance of UW's win there Saturday.
Da Bears
Another important win came on Sunday as my Bears finally made it back to the Super Bowl. I admit I wasn't very confident about getting the win, but I never really understood why everyone was picking the Saints. I never thought the Saints were a great team, and it showed at Solider Field over the weekend.
The Bears defense has been awful against the run for two months now—OK, so let's have Deuce McAllister run the ball six times.
The Bears secondary hasn't been able to defend a pass for two months now—OK, let's take 25 minutes to realize we should throw down the middle of field. Let's be successful at it, score a touchdown right before halftime and then come back in the second half and throw the ball to sidelines the rest of the game. Excuse me?
And then there is Reggie Bush. The Saints should have just given him the ball on every play like they were playing Techmo Super Bowl on the original Nintendo. No seriously, my roommate was just playing and he had 536 yards with Bo Jackson on 12 carries.
The Bears probably would have won anyway with the way they played, but the Saints were awful.
And did anyone else see injured Bears safety Mike Brown make out with that Chap Stick for like 30 seconds? Another season-ending injury is not out of the question next season, but at least we know it won't be his lips that cause it.
And by the way, put all your money on DA BEARS to win. Alando Tucker is a Bear fan—they can't lose.
Sock that commercial
Oh, that damn Dodge Ram commercial just came on again. Except this time I came out of nowhere on the screen and tackled the Rock em' Sock em' Robot and it exploded along with the truck. Seriously, what's the over/under on how many times we see that commercial during the Super Bowl?
Is this heaven? No, it's Iowa
Sweet, I can't wait to go back to Iowa City this weekend. I'll put corn fields, Brothers Bar and Grill and an ex-girlfriend on my list of things to see. Seriously, we have all that in Wisconsin—except our sports teams actually win.
You can catch Hoge talk UW sports every Tuesday and Thursday from 3-5p.m. on WSUM's The Student Section. The show airs on 91.7FM in Madison or online at www.wsum.org. He can be contacted at hoge@dailycardinal.com.
