The SportsPickle.com is a pretty funny site that does spoofs on sports stories and people similar to the way The Onion does.  They typically have some good stories, and here's one that I thought was absolutely too funny not to share.  The story is about Bruce Pearl, who was an assistant coach at Iowa back in the 80's and was a big reason for Illinois' troubles with the NCAA back then.  Many sites have information on what happened back then, so I won't re-hash it here.  If you're interested in reading up more on the history, use Google or MSN Search to find more information.  Suffice it to say, the man is known simply as "Satan" to most Illinois fans and alumns.  This story makes fun of the fact that the man is human pond scum, and I loved it.

Bruce Pearl Reports Tennessee's Entire Side Of The Bracket For NCAA Violations

For those of you that remember, Frank Williams was perhaps one of the best players to ever play basketball for the University of Illinois.  He was a human highlight film, and could take over a game in a flash.  When Frank turned it on, nobody could touch him.

Here's a great video that another Illini fan has prepared, so you will "Remember The Name"...

http://www3.youtube.com/watch?v=NtDHQts0YdE

Here's a really cool site that allows you to simulate NCAA college basketball games...

http://www.whatifsports.com/ncaab/default.asp

Just for grins, I ran a few 7-game simulations using neutral site games:

• 1988-89 Illinois defeated 2004-05 Illinois 4 games to 3
• 2005-06 Illinois defeated 2005-06 Washington 7 games to 0
• 2004-05 Illinois defeated 2004-05 North Carolina 4 games to 3
• 1988-89 Illinois defeated 2004-05 North Carolina 5 games to 2

Here's an interesting article by Mark Tupper, who covers the Fighting Illini for the Herald & Review.  It talks about the lopsided officiating that Big Ten teams seem to get in the NCAA tournament and what can/may be done about it.

Whistles should wake up the league

Personally, I've always thought that many Big Ten teams get hosed by poor officiating in the NCAA tournament.  You can take a look at the following games to see this: 2006 Illinois/Washington, 2006 Indiana/Gonzaga, 1984 Illinois/Kentucky, 2005 Illinois/North Carolina, and 2001 Illinois/Arizona.  Of course, I'm a bit biased, but impartial observers have also seen the remarkable disparity.

All I want/expect from officials is competence, consistency, honesty, and impartiality.  I know that's a tall order, but something we should all expect.