Illinois blogger predicts they will beat Michigan on 10/12/19

Submitted by Decatur Jack on

Edit: Sorry if already posted

Robert (@aLionEye), longtime Illini blogger and who Brian once called "the world's most dedicated Illini fan," has been pumping one day that Illinois football will return to glory: October 12, 2019. That's the day he says Illinois will beat Michigan.

Of course, this piqued my interest, and I enjoy reading Big Ten blogs, so I thought I'd find out more about it. Well, turns out this gentlemen is pretty damn obsessed with the 2019 game against Michigan. (Should we really be that surprised?)

From what I can gather, it started from a mailbag post:

@ALionEye How long before College Game Day comes to Illinois.
— Kevin Butcher (@KevinAButcher) March 8, 2016

Pretty sure I have this one already picked out: Saturday, October 12, 2019 vs. Michigan.

Why so long in the future? Well, Gameday only goes to 12 spots every year and we're just not going to be that relevant yet. Perhaps it could happen in the 2018 season, but the home schedule that year (Kent State, WIU, South Florida, Penn State, Purdue, Minnesota, Iowa) doesn't really scream "big matchup that brings Gameday to town".

So get your tickets now for October 12, 2019. Illinois will be 5-0 (beat Akron, UConn, Eastern Michigan, Nebraska, and Minnesota). Michigan will be 5-0 (probably). Night game (I'll demand it). The demons of 2000 swirling around the stadium. And then...

Our Moment.

He has reiterated it again:

Instead, when we take the field on October 12, 2019 against Michigan and exorcise the demons of September 2000, Jamal Milan will take the field as the gigantic anchor in the center of the defense.

And again:

Which means I'm back to October 12, 2019. Our next game against Michigan. At home. At night (it better be at night). When New Illinois takes on Old Michigan.

Between this Michigan game and that Michigan game, we're going to see maybe 75 repairs. A freshman will start at some position next year, and then another new freshman will win that same spot in 2018. Lots of data points, no real turning points.

Until October 12, 2019, of course. Which I've already overhyped. But really, that's the moment.

October 12, 2019.

He repeats it all the time on his twitter feed, and says it every night before he goes to bed.

October 12, 2019. Now a scant 743 days away! https://t.co/kMMUaiaRpK

— Robert (@ALionEye) September 30, 2017

Save the date, I guess.

HarbaughsLeftElbow

September 30th, 2017 at 12:16 AM ^

Nonsense. Lovie was a terrible hire. A face-saving hire by an administration that favors "looking good" over winning. He is a washed up NFL coach who is making millions a year in retirement. He has zero incentive to win/do well at Illinois. He isn't getting back to the NFL and I doubt he wants to strive for a bigger program. 

1VaBlue1

September 30th, 2017 at 12:25 AM ^

I dunno. I thought that Lovie was a great hire for Ill, as did many others on this blog. I thought he'd make them respectable, but it doesn't seem to be happening. Don't know if he's trying all that hard and just not getting it done, but I can't believe he's doing his best. Appears that he's worse at recruiting than I thought he'd probably be...

BuckNekked

September 30th, 2017 at 6:29 AM ^

Winning is its own incentive if you are a competitor. I can say with a reasonable amount of surety that Lovie is a competitor. Why would anyone not want to win and win big? Why take a job when you can retire with millions in the bank if you didnt plan on doing your absolute best? Your suppositions are complete nonsense.

BuckNekked

September 30th, 2017 at 6:29 AM ^

Winning is its own incentive if you are a competitor. I can say with a reasonable amount of surety that Lovie is a competitor. Why would anyone not want to win and win big? Why take a job when you can retire with millions in the bank if you didnt plan on doing your absolute best? Your suppositions are complete nonsense.

Brian

September 30th, 2017 at 12:20 AM ^

Robert's a good dude and has experienced a ton of pain in service of Illinois football. If he wants to be optimistic, fine. Being a dick to him is kicking a puppy and says bad things about you. 

Sam1863

September 30th, 2017 at 5:27 AM ^

Defense?

I was there with my girlfriend (her first game ever at the Big House, despite graduating from UM). The last play jailbreak blitz sack happened right in front of us. On the way back to the car, she asked me, "Are all games like that?" I answered, "Fortunately, no."

I still remember Tater was the last man off the field - like he didn't want his last moment of glory to end.

redwhiteandMGOBLUE

September 30th, 2017 at 6:26 AM ^

OP is not "being a dick" or "kicking a puppy". He's just being a fan same as the Illini blogger.

If this hard on for 10/12/19 had just come from some random Illini poster (not a blogger) and someone here called them out via a board post I doubt you would have jumped into the fracas.

You're just sticking up for your blogging buddie because he's your blogging buddie.

LSAClassOf2000

September 30th, 2017 at 8:20 AM ^

I went to that game with my wife - one of our first games together, in fact, since we had our kids in 2006 and 2007 respectively. 

As we walked out, she asked me if I enjoyed it, and I shot back, "No, not really, not as someone who prefers a good defensive game......and shit, I'm out of whiskey."

We got some whiskey on the way home.