(Photo courtesy goredbirds.com)
By David Stanczak
As a U of I alum, I’ve been following (and for most years suffering with) the Fighting Illini since I graduated many years ago. Most of the attention I’ve paid to college football has been on the Illini and their Big Ten rivals. For those living in this area, whether you follow Illinois, Northwestern or Iowa, most seasons you don’t have much to yell about, and “wait till next year” sounds almost as believable as when it comes from the lips of a Cub fan. This year has been no exception. The local Big Ten teams either didn’t make it to a Bowl game, or they disgraced themselves at an insignificant Bowl game, whereby “wait till next year” became “wait till basketball season.”
With this background, I’m thrilled to see a local football team playing in a championship football game. While I and other Illinois fans were suffering through the current football season, Illinois State University’s Redbirds have been playingoutstanding football, compiling an excellent record and getting to their ultimate goal: the FCS championship game. I plead guilty to having paid too little attention to ISU. It is increasingly obvious that you didn’t have to go to Champaign, Evanston or Iowa City to watch good college football this year. In fact, you didn’t have to leave town. As ISU won game after game, it became apparent that they were no flash in the pan, that they were a competent football team, that they have demonstrated a lot of character and will to win, and that they were well-coached.
The culmination of their season comes Saturday in Frisco, Texas against the North Dakota State Bisons at high noon. I hope all eyes will be focused on the ISU game Saturday. The Redbirds deserve the support of the community; they’ve earned it.
If you want to do something interesting watching the game on TV, when they show the crowd, keep an eye out for any of the McCaskeys. Granted it’s unlikely that Brock Spack is on the Bears’ short list as a replacement for Mark Trestman, but looking at the recent records of the Bears and Redbirds, they could do a whole lot worse.
Go Redbirds!
David Stanczak, a Forum commentator since 1995, came to Bloomington in 1971. He served as the City of Bloomington’s first full-time legal counsel for over 18 years, before entering private practice. He is currently employed by the Snyder Companies and continues to reside in Bloomington with his family.
The opinions expressed within WJBC’s Forum are solely those of the Forum’s author, and are not necessarily those of WJBC or Cumulus Media Inc.
