The Big Ten Tournament banner including Illinois’ Brandon Wikoff
As always, I had a great time at the Big Ten Tournament. Win or lose, it’s a culmination of everything that the Illinois team has worked so hard for all season. They’ve exceeded everyone else’s expectations this season and each one of them should be proud.
The paid attendance for Thursday night’s Ohio State-Illinois game was over 5,000. John Chmielewski (father of Nick) told me that though they were primarily (ok, overwhelmingly) Buckeye fans, it was good to see that much interest in college baseball. I agree. The fans were really into the sport and I’m glad to see it.
I enjoyed meeting so many different people at the Tournament and getting to know better the ones I’ve already met.
I finally got to meet Drew Grigsby in person. Drew (above) is a Ohio State Buckeye baseball fan and an avid reader of Illinois Baseball Report. I even did a Q&A interview of him before the OSU series earlier this year. It was nice to hang with him and talk Big Ten baseball with him. He’s quite knowledgeable on the topic. Thanks, Drew!
A real treat for me was to meet Bob, the bus driver of the Illini baseball team. Bob (above) tells me that he’s been driving for the team for four years now and he really loves this “gig”. He gets to drive the team then sit and watch baseball. Bob is a former train conductor and since my son (and I) are train fans, we got talking about trains.
Bob says that the Illinois players are all “real good kids” and it wouldn’t surprise him if Coach Hartleb places a high emphasis on character when he goes out recruiting.
Drive Safe, Bob!
I chatted with Marianne Roof a couple times. Marianne was there to see Eric and Jonathan play for Michigan State. Of course, I got the latest from her about Shawn Roof, former Illinois shortstop. She tells me that he’s growing a mustache now. After the tournament, she will be going over to Akron where Shawn’s AA team will be playing. It was a real pleasure to meet Marianne.
Finally, I want to say a big thank you to Mike and Kathy Altobelli. Not just for the ride out to Columbus but for all the generosity and kindness they showed me while we were there. They are good people and I am very grateful. I wish them and Dom best of luck in the future.
Here’s a link to all coverage I did for the 2009 Big Ten Tournament and here’s the link for all the photos I took (551 photos total!).
Thanks Illini!
Tom,thanks for the kind words. It was very nice to meet you in person and i had a fun time at the ballpark. Nice pic of me also. Lol! Too bad you guys did not make the NCAA tourny,there are some teams that do not deserve to be in. I am happy that 3 Big Ten teams did get in though.