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.

MGoBoard

MadMatt

September 30th, 2017 at 10:50 AM ^

Fans from Florida, Cincinnati, Purdue, and now this guy.  Don't you just want to snap a picture of them playing with a ball of string and post it on Facebook?

Joined: 11/06/2013

MGoPoints: 13899

UMgradMSUdad

September 30th, 2017 at 11:03 AM ^

I have now read some of his other stuff. He does seem like a decent fellow and takes about the only approach a fan of Illinois could take: hopes and dreams about a glorious future a few years off.

I can only imagine what it would be like to be a fan of a team that sucks as bad and for as long as Illinois.  Even the few times they had a decent team they found a way to blow it.  I was visiting friends in Chicago for New Year's in 1984.  Their guarded optimism for Illinois success during that Rose Bowl was quickly displaced as the game wore on and was replaced by resignation that Illinois football would never be successful.  The 45-9 beatdown by a mediocre UCLA team that had four losses and a tie that year was just confirmation for them.

Joined: 07/02/2011

MGoPoints: 13185

UM Fan from Sydney

September 30th, 2017 at 12:56 PM ^

I love this and hope people keep saying shit like this. It's extra motivation. The team and coaches either hear or read it.

Joined: 09/17/2015

MGoPoints: 58076

The Fan in Fargo

September 30th, 2017 at 3:24 PM ^

Hah! Someone needs to tell this sorry son of a bitch that NO ONE beats Michigan in 2019. Boom shakalaka bitch!

Joined: 09/04/2016

MGoPoints: 1877