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PMP25: Musical Instruments + Football

I'm glad I included the "if you didn't have your question answered, contact me" thing in the last post because two people reached out to say that their questions hadn't been answered yet. One email had been screened out as spam and

PMP25: Student Life For Athletes

Here's exactly how dumb I am. I started writing this article, the last of the set of questions from last year's fundraiser (at least I think it's the last - if your question hasn't been answered, contact me) and as I'

PMP25: Stadium Songs

I've thought about this one more than any of the other questions that were asked last year. I honestly thought about it during every game last season (except for maybe the snow game when all I was thinking about was how the snow under my feet was packed

Up To Speed - May 13, 2026

So just in the last week I've A) had another grandchild enter the world and B) gotten a shot for the shingles vaccine which, for whatever reason, knocked me silly with fever/chills/headaches. People who have had shingles before have told me they didn't sleep

PMP25: What If There's No Covid?

Two more Pick My Post articles to write after this one and then I'm caught up. And this one is an interesting thought exercise. It's a Butterfly Effect question. A Sliding Doors question. Perhaps we can even call it a time travel question. How does the

Second Wind

There's moments in life – age 53 for this one, apparently – where you realize that you're too old for something. I took a redeye home from Oregon on Sunday night/Monday morning, expecting to do my typical "I'll get a few hours of sleep

Volunteer

I'll just start with the exchange at the entrance. This is going to be one of those "Robert takes you through his day at the Big Ten Golf Championships" posts where I just ramble on about what I saw and who I talked to (including an

PMP25: The Guenther Years

I still have three more PMP articles to write after this one and let's be honest, that's embarrassing. Four people have waited 11 months to get their promised article. There were more donors than ever last year (that's a good thing) and I didn&

This Won't End Well For Illinois

There have been moments these last 17 years. Ever since I started to type Illini words on the internet, I've found myself fascinated by moments. And it feels like it all pivots around one moment. At least for me: February 5, 2019. The "this won't

Tide You Over

I have some thoughts on Underwood's CVC event last night. And I have some thoughts on spring football. I'm going to put those thoughts in this article and then I'm probably not going to write anything for 10 days or so. It is time

One Question Mailbag: NIL, RevShare, & Distribution Of Resources

First off, please note that my brain is currently in "refill the tank" mode. It's why I've written one article (last Thursday) since the season ended. After my near-meltdown in 2021 (as in, my brain was on the verge of melting down in March

Decompressing

That photo kind of captures Saturday night perfectly. I took it from my press seat during Illini player introductions to show how the glow of the ribbon boards and the Jumbotron (plus all of the orange-clad fans in the seats) made the entire place glow orange, even the UConn sections.

High Five (+5): The Best Of It All

There was never going to be an NCAA Tournament “Low Five”. I had mostly decided that after the loss to Wisconsin in the Big Ten Tournament and once the ticket to the Sweet 16 was punched, there was zero doubt. A Low Five is not what I want to write

raison d'être

This is attempt number two at writing this article. I'll start by telling you how attempt #1 failed horribly. I didn't want to keep anyone up, so I came down to write in the lobby of my hotel. There wasn't a soul in the