October 2008 Archives

The football programs at my college alma mater, University of Illinois, and my high school alma mater, Blue Island (now Eisenhower), are very much alike. They produce a great team about once a decade but lack consistent talent to keep pace with the perennial powers.

What makes a perennial power like Michigan and Ohio State and Penn State and Alabama and USC and Texas and Oklahoma?

What makes a consistent winner like Mount Carmel and Maine South and Joliet Catholic and Naperville North and Wheaton Warrenville South and Thornton?

I remember the first time I saw Chief Illiniwek.

I was watching the 1952 Rose Bowl game on a small black-and-white television set. At halftime, the University of Illinois marching band came on the field and, all of a sudden, an Indiana leaps out from between the rows of trumpeters and trombonists and dances the length of the football field.

I was 11 years old at the time and I never forgot it. How did he get there? Was that a moving experience or what? Imagine, performing in front of a national television audience and 100,000 people in the Rose Bowl.

If there were any doubts about Charlie Goro being crowned as Player of the Year in the Chicago area, they were answered--to my satisfaction--on Saturday in Park Ridge.

Many critics were convinced that the Maine South quarterback claimed the honor the week before when he stepped into his end zone and threw a 25-yard pass to Joey Orlando on a third-and-19 play to trigger an 84-yard drive that was capped by Orlando's 28-yard field goal with 5.9 seconds to play, lifting Maine South to a 30-27 victory over Glenbrook South.

That's the stuff of legend, the kind of play that helped to define John Elway's career.

But Goro might have been even better in last Saturday's 55-24 victory over New Trier.

The top-rated player at recruiting analyst Bill Flanagan's recent Flash's Fall Hoops Review at Illinois Wesleyan in Normal was 6-9 wing forward John Wilkins from Belgium. The son of former Hales Franciscan, Elgin, Illinois State and NBA player Jeff Wilkins, he has been living with his father in Gary, Ind., and is committed to Bradley.

But the biggest news is John's younger brother, 13-year-old Jonathan, is a 7-1 eighth grader living with his mother in Belgium. All agree he is a future star who may grow to 7-3. Kansas coach Bill Self already is making overtures and the San Antonio Spurs, having been tipped by Tony Parker, are tracking him.

Dyricus Simms-Edwards, Washington's 6-2 senior point guard, had narrowed his choice to Illinois State, Wichita State, Iowa or Southern Illinois. But Washington State and Kent State are making late sales pitches.

Peter Webb, who is the coordinator for trainers and rules interpreters for the International Association of Approved Basketball Officials (IAABO), recently was invited to share information about his organization to officials in the Rockford area;

Maybe other officials associations in the Chicago area and throughout Illinois should listen to what Webb has to say.

Why? The crisis in officiating is getting worse--even the Illinois High School Association concedes there is a lack of numbers in virtually every sport--and something needs to be done on several levels--recruiting, education, training and pay.

Parents.

A veteran coach once told me: "High school sports would be wonderful--without parents."

Unfortunately, from a biological standpoint, no one has figured out how to keep parents out of the equation.

Parents have an important role to play in high school sports. They should support their son or daughter and their school program, emotionally and financially. They mean more than a ride to the gym.

Is this the year that an offensive lineman is recognized as Player of the Year in the Chicago area for the first time in more than a half-century?

There are few dominant players this season--no Dan Dierkings or John Dergos or Sean Prices--so the list of candidates is slim. Some early season nominees such as Glenbard North's Evan Watkins or Morgan Park's Craig Drummond or Marian Central's Jon Budmayr or Wheaton North's Mike Trumpy have been hampered by injuries or other factors.

The leading candidate for Player of the Year continues to be the preseason favorite--Maine South quarterback Charlie Goro. As long as he continues to perform up to expectations for the state's top-ranked team, Goro will become the fifth quarterback since 2000 to earn the prize.

I was anxious to see St. Rita play at Loyola on Saturday, to see if the Mustangs could play on somebody else's turf as well as they played on their own against Mount Carmel three weeks ago, to see if they could be as good or better, to see if they have what it takes to be an elite team, one of the best in state history.

Loyola 24, St. Rita 0.

As I wrote at the time, one great game doesn't make a season. St. Rita isn't the first team to show signs of greatness, then fizzle. It wasn't pretty--unless you were wearing Maroon and Gold.

According to a consensus of the major football recruiting services--Tom Lemming, Rivals, Scout and ESPN--Illinois coach Ron Zook and his staff are in the mix for 11 of the top 200 players in the nation who remain uncommitted.

"If they get lucky on five or six, they could have a very good recruiting year," Lemming said.

The Illini appear to be in good position on at least four.

They lead in the chase for Morgan Park defensive end Craig Drummond, a 6-5, 260-pounder who has met academic qualifications. Tennessee, USC, Florida, Miami, Alabama, Ohio State, Wisconsin and Minnesota also are in the mix.