IlliniHQ 2
General Category => Halas Hall Football Forum => Topic started by: frankiew on December 14, 2020, 06:05:36 PM
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I go D+
the bowl season was nice, even if they flamed out at the end of the year
TOO many noncompetitive games. Was tough to watch
20 of LOvie's 39 losses were by more than 20 points
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F. For "fucking shitty football."
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(https://media.tenor.com/images/bd211e87f0389360677efb93c4903868/tenor.gif)
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F. With his name recognition alone he should’ve pulled in better recruits and he didn’t. He didn’t put forth any effort on the recruiting side and the game side was just as terrible. An astronomical failure in all areas.
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Are we in a better place than when he got here?
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Are we in a better place than when he got here?
He's a taller midget?
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Would have said C after the Nebraska win. Would have won the Purdue game if we weren’t missing so many key players.
Still going to downgrade his era to C minus or D+ after barely hanging around these last two games against rivals that have the kind of programs we long to have. There was no effort from the staff to recruit at the level required to be competitive week in and out and I think that’s what bugs me the most.
100% think this is a more attractive job now than it was when Lovie took over. It’s easy to forget exactly how cratered this program was 5 years ago at this time of year.
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Lovie = D. Uninspiring across the board. His best team lost to EMU, a mediocre Nebraska team, and a 2-9 "rival" all at home. If he made less and I were the AD, I would have fired him after Iowa 63 Illinois 0. Recruiting is average for Illinois, which isn't good enough without superior coaching in our division which he never had.
Whitman gets an F because we had numerous candidates who would have been been vastly cheaper with the same downside risks and much greater long-term potential. One of our top options at the time, Fleck, is obnoxious but led a divisional rival to an 11 win season last year. 5 years, lost opportunity, and a torched pile of money.
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D.
On a side note, after sitting a year, 4 star Georgia recruit Luke Ford doubled his receptions total from 2018. He had 1 in 2018.
You do the math.
Nothing against Luke, but developing players didn't appear to be this staff's strong suit. Barker got better and Jake Hansen is a football player.
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Are we in a better place than when he got here?
I don’t think the roster is in much of any better shape.
There’s a better perception of the program. Kind of...in the sense they don’t make any news instead of popping up on bad news
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D.
On a side note, after sitting a year, 4 star Georgia recruit Luke Ford doubled his receptions total from 2018. He had 1 in 2018.
You do the math.
Nothing against Luke, but developing players didn't appear to be this staff's strong suit. Barker got better and Jake Hansen is a football player.
I blame Lovie for a lot....but Luke Ford appears likely to be what they call a Tarzan and Jane player who looks one way in practice and another in a game.
It was a giant red flag when he decided to leave the pinnacle of football and come play for Lovie Smith at Illinois. Horrific decision
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Would have said C after the Nebraska win. Would have won the Purdue game if we weren’t missing so many key players.
Still going to downgrade his era to C minus or D+ after barely hanging around these last two games against rivals that have the kind of programs we long to have. There was no effort from the staff to recruit at the level required to be competitive week in and out and I think that’s what bugs me the most.
100% think this is a more attractive job now than it was when Lovie took over. It’s easy to forget exactly how cratered this program was 5 years ago at this time of year.
Different way to look at that..
A bizarre Rutgers QB meltdown and Nebraska starting Blake Martinez instead of Mcaffrey away from winning 1 game.
The way WI has looked over the just 3 weeks versus that opener against Lovie is crazy
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Lovie = D. Uninspiring across the board. His best team lost to EMU, a mediocre Nebraska team, and a 2-9 "rival" all at home. If he made less and I were the AD, I would have fired him after Iowa 63 Illinois 0. Recruiting is average for Illinois, which isn't good enough without superior coaching in our division which he never had.
Whitman gets an F because we had numerous candidates who would have been been vastly cheaper with the same downside risks and much greater long-term potential. One of our top options at the time, Fleck, is obnoxious but led a divisional rival to an 11 win season last year. 5 years, lost opportunity, and a torched pile of money.
Some people swear that Fleck was a done deal, contingent upon Lovie saying no. He’s done nice things there but ...he’s annoying as fuck too
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I don’t think the roster is in much of any better shape.
That's mostly what I was wondering. I think I watched maybe 10 minutes of Illini football this year, so don't know what our talent level is. I was just curious if the replacement coach is going to have as much of an uphill battle that Lovie had, talent-wise.
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That's mostly what I was wondering. I think I watched maybe 10 minutes of Illini football this year, so don't know what our talent level is. I was just curious if the replacement coach is going to have as much of an uphill battle that Lovie had, talent-wise.
People couldn’t let their disdain of Beckman/Cubit go enough to see that the roster Lovie inherited was a bowl caliber team. Whatever is left of this team is likely going to be brutal
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Some people swear that Fleck was a done deal, contingent upon Lovie saying no. He’s done nice things there but ...he’s annoying as fuck too
Yeah Fleck is a hard no from me. I’d shoot myself having to deal with that bullshit all the time. I don’t think he’s all that good either honestly.
Row row row your boat....
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People couldn’t let their disdain of Beckman/Cubit go enough to see that the roster Lovie inherited was a bowl caliber team. Whatever is left of this team is likely going to be brutal
It was an older team and Lovie burned it down to start younger guys.
If the new guy can get people to come back (and add some transfers?), that could make things interesting. At least for one year. Does not seem to be much to work with on the roster after that...
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Luke Ford just isn’t very good. At least not as good as Barker.
There were a lot of transfers and turmoil after the Beckman/Cubit fiasco. That team that took the field 6 months after Lovie was hired probably could have been better results-wise but not sure they were a bowl team even if Knute Rockne came back from the dead to coach them.
Illinois doesn’t have the extreme negative aura it had around it that it had back then and facilities have been dramatically improved.
Fleck hadn’t even had his breakthrough season at WMU yet when Lovie was hired. It was about 6 months later when Fleck and WMU blew our doors off at home and went on to a 13-1 record that really crystallized everything. Had we hired Fleck before that breakthrough season it would have been seen as a very risky and brazen hire although I’m sure it would have turned out much better than Lovie did. I don’t recall any other schools at Illinois’ level or above pursuing Fleck in late 2015 or 2016, either.
Bernstein talking about Illini football now
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I blame Lovie for a lot....but Luke Ford appears likely to be what they call a Tarzan and Jane player who looks one way in practice and another in a game.
It was a giant red flag when he decided to leave the pinnacle of football and come play for Lovie Smith at Illinois. Horrific decision
It wasn't fair of me to pick on Ford, but the "skill" players on offense left a bit to be desired. Peters finished at 51% with a 112 rating, compared to 55% and 128 last year. With a returning Bhebhe, an improved Barker, a 4 star Miami Fla transfer in Hightower and 4 star Ford at TE; I expected to see more. Chase Brown was a surprise .......
But, Rod Smith looked as tho he got in the way, even tho he had a returning offensive line.
The Smith brothers had the offense and the defense to coach. They're probably both still scratching their heads over what in tarnation happened in the 1st quarter of the xxxx game.
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Had Peters been able to play against Rutgers and Purdue his stats probably would have looked a lot better. I don’t think Rod is a great play caller but is there anyone in the receiving corps that even has an outside chance of sniffing the NFL?
Bhebe is a lot like Cockburn, he does great when he’s just bigger and stronger than the other guy but he isn’t overly skilled as a route runner and he’s not fast enough to get much separation. We really could have used Dre Brown back this year although Chase had some nice moments here and there.
This team looks and performs like a team constructed of mediocre to bad HS recruiting classes and P5 transfers who couldn’t make it at better programs, which is exactly what it is.
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Different way to look at that..
A bizarre Rutgers QB meltdown and Nebraska starting Blake Martinez instead of Mcaffrey away from winning 1 game.
The way WI has looked over the just 3 weeks versus that opener against Lovie is crazy
Most of you know I follow Ohio State and Nebraska (in football) much more than Illinois. Adrian Martinez (Nebraska's 3rd year starting QB) was in a big funk early in the season and that's why he was benched for the Illinois game. To his credit, Martinez continued to work hard and maintained a positive attitude, so I'm rooting for him to recapture that 1st year magic. He did play better the last couple of games. At this point, Luke McCaffrey doesn't have the arm strength to play QB. He's a fantastic athlete (think poor man's Braxton Miller), but opposing defenses should stack 9 in the box and dare him to throw when he's the QB.
Nebraska is a mess right now, and really has been for a while. Lovie Smith isn't the only coach who couldn't put together a decent group of assistants. IMO, that's the biggest issue at Nebraska right now; well, that and really poor play calling at inopportune times. Frost took all of his assistants from UCF -- none of which had meaningful (if any) experience coaching or recruiting in the B1G Ten. Big mistake. Player development and accountability is lacking. Sound familiar? Thus, it's now a battle between the Huskers and Wolverines to see which fanbase is more apoplectic over the (mis)fortunes of their football team. Michigan really has no excuse, given it's proximity to talented recruiting areas. Nebraska, however, is located in the midst of a recruiting wasteland.
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Had Peters been able to play against Rutgers and Purdue his stats probably would have looked a lot better. I don’t think Rod is a great play caller but is there anyone in the receiving corps that even has an outside chance of sniffing the NFL?
Bhebe is a lot like Cockburn, he does great when he’s just bigger and stronger than the other guy but he isn’t overly skilled as a route runner and he’s not fast enough to get much separation. We really could have used Dre Brown back this year although Chase had some nice moments here and there.
This team looks and performs like a team constructed of mediocre to bad HS recruiting classes and P5 transfers who couldn’t make it at better programs, which is exactly what it is.
Our 4 star qb, two 4 star wrs, and 4 star te are playing behind an experienced ol against a lot of players who will never think about the NFL.
I try not to get my Maserati over 30mph. Saves gas.
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Our 4 star qb, two 4 star wrs, and 4 star te are playing behind an experienced ol against a lot of players who will never think about the NFL.
I try not to get my Maserati over 30mph. Saves gas.
My Maserati does 185.
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My Maserati does 185.
Well done. 👍
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Fleck hadn’t even had his breakthrough season at WMU yet when Lovie was hired. It was about 6 months later when Fleck and WMU blew our doors off at home and went on to a 13-1 record that really crystallized everything. Had we hired Fleck before that breakthrough season it would have been seen as a very risky and brazen hire
His breakthrough was 2014. At the time of our vacancy, he had back to back 8-5 seasons, major upswing in recruiting (top ranked classes for the MAC 3 years in a row), former NFL player, Illinois native.
There'd be nothing weird about hiring that candidate. Short of taking a flier on Les Miles or Mike Leach I am not sure what people could realistically expect otherwise. Probably a B+ hire in the national press and one many of us were calling for in real time.
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His breakthrough was 2014. At the time of our vacancy, he had back to back 8-5 seasons, major upswing in recruiting (top ranked classes for the MAC 3 years in a row), former NFL player, Illinois native.
There'd be nothing weird about hiring that candidate. Short of taking a flier on Les Miles or Mike Leach I am not sure what people could realistically expect otherwise. Probably a B+ hire in the national press and one many of us were calling for in real time.
A program like Illinois has to roll the dice and hopefully get ahead of the curve when making a coaching hire. It pains me to say this, but Illinois probably won't win a "bidding war" for someone already perceived to be a hot coaching prospect.
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Fleck is doing a good job here. I'd rather have him here than in C-U.
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Fleck is doing a good job here. I'd rather have him here than in C-U.
I watched the Minnesota-Nebraska game last weekend. The Gophers were down @30 players yet were determined to play. Despite being 10.5 point underdogs, Minnesota found a way to win a road game. Much credit to their program.
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His breakthrough was 2014. At the time of our vacancy, he had back to back 8-5 seasons, major upswing in recruiting (top ranked classes for the MAC 3 years in a row), former NFL player, Illinois native.
There'd be nothing weird about hiring that candidate.
It would be unusual if a P5 team hired a guy that posted back to back 8-5 seasons in the MAC, even with high level MAC recruiting. Which might be why no one did.
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His breakthrough was 2014. At the time of our vacancy, he had back to back 8-5 seasons, major upswing in recruiting (top ranked classes for the MAC 3 years in a row), former NFL player, Illinois native.
There'd be nothing weird about hiring that candidate. Short of taking a flier on Les Miles or Mike Leach I am not sure what people could realistically expect otherwise. Probably a B+ hire in the national press and one many of us were calling for in real time.
This is very revisionist history. Hindsight is a great thing. C’mon man, you’re better than this.
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MAC coaches get poached all the damn time. We literally hired Beckman off 8-5 and 8-4 seasons. Bad hire in hindsight but well within our "range."
Urban was hired at Utah coming off 8-3 and 9-3 seasons. Brian Kelly moved to Cincy after 6-5 and 9-4 seasons. Al Golden moved to Miami after 8-4 and 9-4. Etc. etc.
This isn't hindsight, either. This actually happened:
https://www.mlive.com/broncos/2015/08/pj_fleck_conversation_heats_up.html
https://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/ct-beckman-fired-greenstein-spt-0829-20150828-column.html
https://www.thechampaignroom.com/2016/3/5/11166382/replacing-bill-cubit-potential-head-coaching-candidates
There are also articles about him being a candidate for Rutgers, Maryland, and South Carolina at the same time or earlier.
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Well it appears Lovie might just get to be a NFL HC again…
https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/33234618/houston-texans-talks-lovie-smith-potentially-becoming-next-head-coach-sources-say
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Lovie a professional team HC again.
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Lovie a professional team HC again.
Paycheck-stealing mofucker.
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The dude is a fuckin survivor.
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I could tell you guys all kinds of fucked up shit about Lovie Smith and his family. lol And they are FUCKED up in the head. Especially Miles wife, but anyways the Houston offer apparently in their eyes rights all the wrongs that Illinois did to them.
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I could tell you guys all kinds of fucked up shit about Lovie Smith and his family. lol And they are FUCKED up in the head. Especially Miles wife, but anyways the Houston offer apparently in their eyes rights all the wrongs that Illinois did to them.
So, tell us. There's only like 12 of us here anyway.
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With regards to Illinois they were not appreciative with how they were let go. Claimed it was a race issue that got him sent out of dodge and not his job performance.
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With regards to Illinois they were not appreciative with how they were let go. Claimed it was a race issue that got him sent out of dodge and not his job performance.
Oh. Well, that seems kinda ridiculous.
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So Houston is just throwing in the towel huh
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The funniest thing about all of this is that I found out about this after my friend went down there for a costume party hosted with Lovie and his family and they were dressed up as seventeenth-century pilgrims dressed up with white face and wigs
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This is just one story there are more
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This is just one story there are more
Well, so far your stories are pretty shitty. Any good ones, or nah?
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My cousin is close friends with Lovie’s nephew. Met him a couple of times and it made me uncomfortable because I wanted Lovie fired (when he was with the Bears). Seemed like a decent guy, though (Lovie’s nephew).
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Probably nah being how the other two only have to do with miles wife being drunk as fuck half naked by the end of the night
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Probably nah being how the other two only have to do with miles wife being drunk as fuck half naked by the end of the night
Shoulda fucked her. That would have been a story.
Sorry Spark.
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LOL at Lovie thinking he got a raw deal here and LOL at the Texans.
I thought we were his graceful retirement gig?
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I'm thinking McCown was their guy but they had to change course because of the Flores situation. But then again, the Texans are a straight dumpster fire right now with no fucking clue how to fix it so who knows.
Bears play the Texans in Chicago next season. Lovie revenge game!
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Smith was one of the most experienced hires of previous head coach David Culley, who was dismissed after just one season on the job. He oversaw one of the worst defenses in the NFL in 2021, with Houston ranking 31st in yards allowed per game,
Wtf ?
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Smith was one of the most experienced hires of previous head coach David Culley, who was dismissed after just one season on the job. He oversaw one of the worst defenses in the NFL in 2021, with Houston ranking 31st in yards allowed per game,
Wtf ?
He’s black. That’s it. Period.
They literally were gonna hire Josh McCown with absolutely no head coaching experience at all until the Flores lawsuit hit. Then it quickly escalated to Lovie rather quickly after that.
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He’s black. That’s it. Period.
They literally were gonna hire Josh McCown with absolutely no head coaching experience at all until the Flores lawsuit hit. Then it quickly escalated to Lovie rather quickly after that.
I appreciate you for being a relic of that challenging 1865-67 period when we learned that the real problem with integrating ex-slaves into society wouldn't be their former owners, but rather the low-skilled whites they'd supplant as freemen.
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Haha. Quite the clown show in Houston.
https://twitter.com/AndrewSiciliano/status/1491098851331043330
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He’s black. That’s it. Period.
Judge Judy says with not a hint of self-awareness or intended irony. Just as they were about to hire the white guy with zero coaching experience beyond high school (which JJ even pointed out). Only JJ can reach this level of cluelessness.
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Judge Judy says with not a hint of self-awareness or intended irony. Just as they were about to hire the white guy with zero coaching experience beyond high school (which JJ even pointed out). Only JJ can reach this level of cluelessness.
That was the point dumbass.
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That’s the ONLY reason they hired him is because he was black. After what Flores did, they did a complete 180 and hired Lovie. In no way is that endorsing the McCown hire. I think that’s bogus as shit to hire a fucking high school coach over much more qualified black OR white candidates. So you or Rob trying to find fault in anything I said is you guys just trying to be well, you guys.
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That was the point dumbass.
“He’s black. That’s it. Period.”
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That was the point dumbass.
You seem to be sending mixed messages at best.
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“He’s black. That’s it. Period.”
It is. They got spooked and did an obvious about face. No matter what the organization tells the public.
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You seem to be sending mixed messages at best.
Nah you just wanna read much more into it than needed. It’s in your nature.
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spook
(https://www.photofunky.net/output/image/2/9/9/6/299612/photofunky.gif)
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I also think there’s about a 0.0% chance Lovie gets that job if he’s white. Probably should have given Reggie Theus a shot though.
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Nah you just wanna read much more into it than needed. It’s in your nature.
They didn’t hire McCown (and shouldn’t have because he doesn’t have experience or done anything to earn it). They only hired Lovie because he’s black. Which is it?
Lovie wasn’t the only black coach or qualified coach available, you know.
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Well they certainly weren't going to hire Flores.
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(https://www.photofunky.net/output/image/2/9/9/6/299612/photofunky.gif)
I have always felt sorry for the little kid in those gifs.
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I have always felt sorry for the little kid in those gifs.
Yesterday, I wanted fried chicken. The IGA here has very good fried chicken.
Went to the IGA. Their fucking truck didn't come in, so they didn't have fried chicken.
I was pretty pissed.
The End.
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Yesterday, I wanted fried chicken. The IGA here has very good fried chicken.
Went to the IGA. Their fucking truck didn't come in, so they didn't have fried chicken.
I was pretty pissed.
The End.
Jerry's IGA or another IGA?
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Jerry's IGA or another IGA?
Another one.
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Another one.
Ahh. Did you instead go to Casey's for pizza?
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They didn’t hire McCown (and shouldn’t have because he doesn’t have experience or done anything to earn it). They only hired Lovie because he’s black. Which is it?
Lovie wasn’t the only black coach or qualified coach available, you know.
It can be both. They aren’t mutually exclusive.
Like Spark said, they sure as hell weren’t gonna hire Flores…. who was qualified as well. It was a move to save their face. That’s all. Word was out on McCown and they realized there was a lot of liability and backlash, so they hired Lovie. Why not hire Flores? Why not go ahead and hire McCown? They knew better after that lawsuit. There was no way to justify it, so they pivoted.
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Ahh. Did you instead go to Casey's for pizza?
Nope. Taco Bell.
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Nope. Taco Bell.
I'd suggest you offer to meet Spark at a convenient Casey's for pizza, but he will be too busy hanging with JudgeJudy apparently. !!!!!!
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I'd suggest you offer to meet Spark at a convenient Casey's for pizza, but he will be too busy hanging with JudgeJudy apparently. !!!!!!
We’re not a POS like you, so that’s understandable.
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I'd suggest you offer to meet Spark at a convenient Casey's for pizza, but he will be too busy hanging with JudgeJudy apparently. !!!!!!
You can't hardly throw a rock without hitting a fucking Casey's down here, lol.
I do like their pizza. In moderation, of course.
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You can't hardly throw a rock without hitting a fucking Casey's down here, lol.
And bounce off and hit a DG.
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Lovie’s a great coach if you’re tanking. Fills a quota of black coach and gets you a high draft pick. Probably won’t have any controversies.
Texans are basically pulling an Illini here except Illinois didn’t get any high draft picks