it sure is fun receiving congratulatory calls from coworkers, and i received one during the under-4 tv timeout - from my boss no less. the cats, of course, held on to defeat illinois, 70-60, tonight, and it was quite a dismantling.

without vedran (shudder), kareem abdul-duvancic showed up big time, putting up a career-high 22 points. this included, as i recall, a trio of 3's, including one that bounced off front iron to give the cats an eight-point lead inside of three minutes remaining; a lefthanded bankshot hook (hence, the 'kareem'); and a driving finger roll featuring the trademark 'davor shuffle' which, for some reason, wasn't called.

illinois didn't get into a rhythm at all offensively and, without dee brown hitting bailout threes (he had four in the first half), their offense was nonexistent. northwestern's defense was stifling, and wayne 'still crying over favre's stupid throw' larivee had lots of trouble identifying the cats' set (hint: it's almost never a man-to-man...study your damn film, dammit).

in other news, shon morris, who's pretty witty but usually sounds like he's trying too hard, came up with a couple of gems tonight: "northwestern's bench is thinner than kate moss" and "illinois' offense is getting more second chances than robert downey, jr."

other comments:
- vince scott sure takes up a lot of space, and he understands what's going on, but he's just not any good.
- vince scott looks a lot like jake mauer, but not joe
- it's a lot more fun when the cats are on tv
- in the tradition of "the izzone" and "the gene pool," northwestern's student section sure should have been dubbed "carmody central." it's so uncool to hear wayne 'freddie mitchell got a way-too-generous spot on that fourth and 26' larivee say "and they're going crazy on the wild side!"
- i sure hope dickie v names an 'all facial expressions' team, because bill carmody sure would have earned all five spots had it been named tonight
- does this win mean that more chicago recruits will spend their college years in the suburbs?
- i think jitim is clearly the most likable player that i was ever associated with at the school. he smiles easily. he works hard all the time. he's tried to adapt his game to this offense and, while his skills still don't really fit with it, he sure makes the best of his skills.
- vedran can't take another medical redshirt, considering he's played 14 games, can he?
- big mo's a ballhawk, when he's playing well
- with the gridders making a bowl and the cagers in first place in the big ten and the women's hoopsters having won a few games, this could well turn out to be the greatest year in wildcats sports history.

i wish i had more personal news but, in the words of some alice's adventures in wonderland character, 'things keep getting curiouser and curiouser.' call if you're interested in more.