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Dad and I drove down to Champaign Sunday morning to take in the Illinois / Western Michigan basketball game, which Illinois won 88–53. We picked up Katie at her place, stopped at Jimmy John’s for lunch, and headed to the stadium.

After a very slow start, we started to dominate. Ignoring the first nine shots (which we missed), we shot 56% from the field. Keller led the way, with 15 points, not least due to his going 3/3 from behind the arc. Mike Davis had yet another double-double, with 12 points and 10 boards. While our freshmen had quiet games, especially Paul, who only played twelve minutes, everyone logged some quality time. (Even Bubba had a steal and a rebound!)

That Western Michigan finished the game with more offensive rebounds is a bit misleading. They shot poorly and most of their offensive boards were tip attempts. Overall, it was clear they could not play with our size—we finished with seven blocked shots, including five by Tisdale alone.

Since our assigned seats are in C-section, and the stadium was a couple thousand short of a sellout, we decided to grab some vacant seats in the first row of B9. Unfortunately, shortly before halftime, the actual ticket holders came by and booted us from the seats. Personally, I think there should be a rule: after a certain point in the game, if you haven’t yet arrived, you lose the rights to your seats. You can still come in, but you have to take the seats of the people who moved up. (These people—high school girls, by the looks of it—left with like eight minutes left on the clock, too. Ridiculous.)

Fortunately, there were some free seats in the penultimate row of B9 which we grabbed instead. This turned out to be fortuitous in two ways. First, the more distant seats had much better legroom, and at 6′4​″, that’s a big deal. (My left calf was on the verge of cramping—CRAMP!—most of the game as it was, so this was definitely helpful.) Second, sitting immediately behind us was a father with his ten-year-old son, and listening to their conversation was hilarious. I chatted them up when Jeff Jordan was called for a blocking foul under the basket—an apparent invocation of the new charging rule and a call with which few Illini fans agreed. Later, after the Orange Krush was singing Christmas songs during Broncos free throws, the son asked his father what other things were allowed. Specifically, he asked if fans were allowed to place banana peels or C4 explosives on the court to foil the opponents basketball plans. (How many kids of that age know what C4 is?)

We also cheered for David Brown, a WMU frosh who hails from Roscoe, Illinois, where he attended Hononegah High School. This happens to be the alma mater of some of my maternal cousins, the youngest of whom, Rick, would have been a senior when Brown was in eighth grade. Rick also played basketball (he went on to play for University of Illinois at Springfield) so I suspect he at least knew of this guy. (Fun fact: Danica Patrick was also raised in Roscoe.) Brown is averaging about twelve minutes and two points per game, and this game was no different.

After the game, we kept Katie from her studies, heading to Murphy’s Pub for a bit. Katie and I split a pitcher while we caught up. Bean stopped by for a few minutes on his way to work.

This week, the team is off for finals, but they head to Atlanta to take on Georgia on Saturday. While that can’t be overlooked, I’m excited for the Braggin’ Rights game against Mizzou on December 23. Oskee Wow Wow!