Things To Read Instead Of Talking To The Significant Other

Topics: Big Ten Football, Steve Alford's greasiness (is that a word?), Ohio State anger and a sexy link.

The Fighting Illini football team is 2-30 in the Big Ten since 2003. Ouch. And we thought Glen Mason was bad. Anyway, Sunday Morning Quarterback thinks our friends in Illinois will be improved in 2007.

In more serious Big Ten football news, Indiana coach Terry Hoeppner will miss the upcoming season to undergo treatments for brain cancer. Get well, Terry.

One of my favorite Big Ten bloggers is MGO Blog. I never know quite what I'm going to get when I go there. And that was the case today. With the offseason in full swing, MGO Blog took a break from football/basketball/baseball coverage to explain why the offisides rule in hockey needs to go. It's true, and a good read.

That other local basketball team made a trade this week, sending Mike James to Houston for Juwan Howard. I was never impressed with Mike James. Then again, Juwan Howard is 34, and the trade doesn't do much to get the bored Timberwolves fan interested. GM Kevin McHale, and I'm not sure why he still has a job, did indicate to the Star Tribune that other moves are coming. Hope so.

Think Ohio State fans are OK with losing to Florida in both the men's football and basketball championships? Think again. Warning: Kinda-sorta pornographic map of Florida at link.

Thank you, Ohio State blog Eleven Warriors.

Vegas Insider has Tim Brewster's troops as 125:1 to win the BCS title. Sweet. And over at The Wizard of Odds, Brew's Crew falls into the 'pretender' category.

In what appears to be the last post at Steve Alford's Hair Gel, the enjoyable Hawkeyes blog tells us of Alford's use of Iowa cars and its recruiting database after he resigned as coach. The Hair Gel author plans to start another blog soon, presumably with a new namesake. Steroid Nation also enjoyed Alford's attempt to rip off the University of Iowa. Choice line: "Oh yeah, Steve, when you resign, your former employer is not going to keep paying for your cell phone, chump. Sorry." I'm personally going to miss Alford, he successfully underperformed at Iowa.