Illinois fans are still bitter about Bruce Pearl

C

cliffjumper

Well-Known Member
Here is a fan comment from todays Chicago Trib:

"Illini were overmatched, that Self must be a great salesman.
On a brighter note, ol' Brucey Pearl got his lunch, be a shame if they fired him after that trouncing and all the lying and cheating he's been caught at down there. Couldn't happen to a nicer guy, lyin scumbug since he was at Iowa. Great when bad things happen to bad people".

They are still hanging on to their bitterness from the Tom Davis years --- wtf? Talk about NEVER being able to move on with your life.
 
cliffjumper said:
Here is a fan comment from todays Chicago Trib:

"Illini were overmatched, that Self must be a great salesman.
On a brighter note, ol' Brucey Pearl got his lunch, be a shame if they fired him after that trouncing and all the lying and cheating he's been caught at down there. Couldn't happen to a nicer guy, lyin scumbug since he was at Iowa. Great when bad things happen to bad people".

They are still hanging on to their bitterness from the Tom Davis years --- wtf? Talk about NEVER being able to move on with your life.
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Illinois fans are still upset about some incident between Iowa fans and Illinois players from the like the '50's or '60's in football. Their only in-state rival is Northwestern and Northwestern is only good at beating Iowa, so that ain't a good rivalry thus Illinois fans channel all of their rage against Iowa in the hopes they can someday have an actual rival, but Iowa fans are just kind of like "meh, who cares about stuff that is decades old" and that actually makes the Illinois fans even more upset that they don't have a rival.
 
Illini fans will forever maintain that the only thing that kept them from becoming the North Carolina of the Midwest was Pearl,or Satan,as they refer to him.
They have a pecking order for their hate:
1. Bruce Pearl,or Satan.
2. Bill Self or Bail.

If it was not for these two individuals sabotaging the Illini bb program,they would have at least 5 national titles in the last 22 years....according to them.
And amazingly, they continue to sabotage the program,from afar,just by breathing.
Weber escaped being the next guy on the list by beating UNLV on Friday nite....but that can change next year.
 
I remember a while back, people here told me I couldn't be a fan of both Notre Dame and Iowa because of an incident that happened during a football game in the 50's, so I don't think we should be casting stones here.
 
The older I get and the more places I live (I move for work fairly often) the more I realize that fans of one school are very much like fans of another school. In particular in the Big Ten. All these episodes talked about here, whether with another Big Ten school or Notre Dame, would have you feeling the same as the fans you're teasing if the roles were reversed.
 
Okay, okeefe4prez. Two words: Jim Bain.

When Iowa fans that were around in the early 1980s forget about Jim Bain, then I am sure Illini fan will begin to forget about Bruce Pearl.

Are you serious? You would feel that way too, if what happened there happened at Iowa. Regardless of whether you think they were a bunch of cheaters back then or not, put that aside. Almost everyone that is a big Iowa fan would harbor those same thoughts right now if that had happened to us.

There are still plenty of Iowa fans that feel like Illinois basketball is a bunch of cheaters right now, probably. It is rooted in the fact that they were back then. We have just as long of memories as they do, if you poll those that have been around that long.
Don't fool yourself.
 
I agree with Auggie.

I have been saying for years that if different fan bases had gone through the same experiences that the traits of those fan bases would be the same, regardless of which fan bases we would be discussing.

If Iowa fans had experienced the success that Nebraska had, the exact same success since the 1960s, we would be them.

Don't kid yourselves. The only differences would be regional differences, like personalities of one region, like the northeast, might make it more difficult to make this argument. But even then, I still believe what I am saying here.

Illini fans hold a long grudge against Bruce Pearl. Iowa fans hold a longer grudge against Jim Bain. Red Sox fans hold a longer grudge against Bill Buckner.

Need I say more?
 
Pearl taped calls with recruits, probably so he could remember what was said the next time he talked with them. When he told Bob Knight about the conversation with Thomas, Knight contacted the NCAA. The NCAA told Pearl they wanted the tapes and Pearl complied. The resulting investigation resulted in penalties and the firing of the assistant coach. So tell me again, who's fault was it that Illinois got hammered? Was it Pearl, Knight, the NCAA, or could it have been Illinois for cheating.
 
Re: Okay, okeefe4prez. Two words: Jim Bain.

Thawki said:
When Iowa fans that were around in the early 1980s forget about Jim Bain, then I am sure Illini fan will begin to forget about Bruce Pearl.
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Touch'e. I still hate what Bain did.
 
muskienks said:
Pearl taped calls with recruits, probably so he could remember what was said the next time he talked with them.
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That's a stretch. Pearl crossed the line when he recorded a private conversation with a recruit to begin with. It was without a doubt an ethical violation in the coaching community.

The guy is a good coach but he's scum.
 
With the passage of time(22 years) the whole story has taken on an ''urban myth'' quality.
On the illini board,a fan suggested a 30/30 ESPN documentary a la ''Fab Five'' to clear the illini's name once and for all....LOL.
You have illini fans declaring without a doubt that Pearl ''doctored'' the tape.
You have Iowa fan tigger,who evidently was in the Iowa admin at the time saying that many of the Big Ten powers to be(Knight,Keady,Heathcote,ect) being fed up with the illini's cheating after LaPhonso Ellis of East St Louis told Digger that Henson/Collins were offering money,job and car that he was passing up to play at ND. So,according to tigger,this power group got together with Mr. Davis and Big Ten commissioner,and decided to have Pearl do the sting operation on a recruit still in play,Deon Thomas.

Who knows? I do agree that if everyone involved was hooked to lie-detector machines ...Henson,Collins,Pearl,Mr. Davis,Knight,Digger,Keady,Heathcote,Big Ten commiss,NCAA investigators,Deon Thomas,his buddy, his mom,Ellis, ect....it would make for a decent documentary...maybe.
But, will never happen, and the raging against the machine will continue for Illini fans,many of whom were not even born when it occurred...but will say they know for sure what really happened.
 
muskienks said:
Pearl taped calls with recruits, probably so he could remember what was said the next time he talked with them. When he told Bob Knight about the conversation with Thomas, Knight contacted the NCAA. The NCAA told Pearl they wanted the tapes and Pearl complied. The resulting investigation resulted in penalties and the firing of the assistant coach. So tell me again, who's fault was it that Illinois got hammered? Was it Pearl, Knight, the NCAA, or could it have been Illinois for cheating.
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Knight contacted the NCAA about another recruit, not Thomas. Digger Phelps is the one who was Pearl's cohort because the Illini were courting LaPhonso Ellis. Pearl specifically taped the call, asking leading questions, for the sole purpose of getting Illinois in trouble.
 
Thanks for perspective JHHAWK. I would be very interested in watching a documentary if indeed all parties were involved in one way or another.
 
burky247 said:
That's a stretch. Pearl crossed the line when he recorded a private conversation with a recruit to begin with. It was without a doubt an ethical violation in the coaching community.

The guy is a good coach but he's scum.
Click to expand...

It is not illegal or unethical to tape record your own phone conversations. It is only illegal if neither party on the conversation knows it is being taped. Now asking leading questions to try and entrap a recruit is a very questionable thing to do. The bigger question though is, was Illinois paying players or committing other NCAA violations to induce them to sign. Apparently the NCAA decided that they were. The bottom line is, they cheated, they got caught and the paid the price.
 
Here's the most thorough look at the situation I've seen yet.

Deadspin, Sports News without Access, Favor, or Discretion

You come away thinking that everyone in that situation was dirty. Every one of them lied in some way and each for his own selfish reasons. Regardless, Illini fans have no reason to feel angry. Its pretty clear that Collins bribed Thomas. Its also clear that Pearl ratted him out in a last-ditch attempt to get Thomas. Those that think Illinois was a victim are clueless.
 
rpmhawk said:
Here's the most thorough look at the situation I've seen yet.

Deadspin, Sports News without Access, Favor, or Discretion

You come away thinking that everyone in that situation was dirty. Every one of them lied in some way and each for his own selfish reasons. Regardless, Illini fans have no reason to feel angry. Its pretty clear that Collins bribed Thomas. Its also clear that Pearl ratted him out in a last-ditch attempt to get Thomas. Those that think Illinois was a victim are clueless.
Click to expand...

I read the reaction to that same story on an Illini site, and it was hilarious. First, they were incredulous that the author concluded that Collins was not pure as the virgin snow.

They honestly believe that Jimmy Collins was completely innocent, and was thrown under the bus because the NCAA refused to take the word of a black coach and a black player over a white coach. Why the NCAA in the late 1980s transformed into a Klan rally, I have no idea.


Illinois fans, much like Iowa fans here, have a bizarre self-image of themselves that in no way faces reality. In both football and basketball, Illinois thinks they SHOULD be so much better than they are; They should be a force in the Big 10, but there are always forces at work, outside of their control, preventing that from happening. Bruce Pearl and Bill Self are two people who are part of that conspiracy. Also, every coach has a personal vendetta against Illinois, and uses questionable ethics, while their coaches refuse to sink to such levels.
 
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