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Greetings from "Can't Wait For Saturday," your morning morsel of college football, courtesy of longtime Illini beat writer, AP Top 25 voter and Heisman state rep Bob Asmussen. He'll give you his views each day on the game he loves.
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Illinois football has a busy week coming up. Both at home and on the road.
On Monday at Urbana's Atkins Golf Club, the Illini Quarterback Club is hosting the annual Bret Bielema Invitational golf outing.
The event is a major fund-raiser for the Club, which has been supporting Illinois football since 1942.
Bielema will be there and his coaches will join groups of golfers during the round.
It's going to be a bit on the warm side for the outing with temperatures in the mid-80s. Makes it feel like football is just around the corner.
On Tuesday, Bielema and members of the team go north to Chicago for a string of appearances.
Bielema will be on Chicago station's WLS and WMVP in the morning. Later, Luke Altmyer, Josh Gesky, Gabe Jacas and Josh Kreutz will meet with fans and the media at the Budweiser Brickhouse Tavern.
The Illinois travel party will attend the Cubs-Brewers game at Wrigley Field. Bielema will be the guest conductor during "Take Me Out to the Ballgame."
Illinois football spending time in Chicago is nothing new. The program has been making trips to the city for years for recruiting and marketing.
The reception is better for Illinois teams in Chicago when they are winning. Especially with the media.
TV, radio and newspaper types in the city went gaga for the 2005 men's basketball team, which reached the Final Four with a win in Rosemont. I remember postgame press conferences being jammed with unfamiliar faces, who had been more spotty in their coverage during the regular season. It happens. Everybody likes a winner.
The same is likely to happen with Illinois football. While the Bears rebuild with a new coach, Bielema's team is more of a sure thing. Expect to see enhanced Chicago radio and TV stations coverage of Illinois games this season.
For Bielema's program, the bonus attention is a big win. Prospects see the coverage and the rising program has another lane to sell itself.
The downside to all of this is that unless Illinois becomes like Alabama during the Nick Saban era, the interest could be temporary. Maybe it lasts all season. Or ends after the first unexpected loss.
The media people in Chicago are great. And they are doing their job when the follow the winning programs. Right now that includes Illinois.
