
It's time for the Chicago Now blog Big Ten Guru to graduate and find a new home. Actually it's graduating and picking up a master's and doctorate degrees on the same stage as BTG now expands and morphs into Chicago Sports Guru.
Why? Because there's no doubt that Chicago is the best sports town in
history. It's the city that's been home to: the greatest basketball
player on Earth, the most iconic Super Bowl team of all-time, the
biggest scandal in baseball history, and the most infamous postseason
droughts in all of sports. The premier collegiate athletic conference
in all of sports is headquartered here and the city is host to the NBA
Draft Combine every spring.

In short, our news is national news and you can't properly get the
big picture until you see the Chicago perspective. It's the national
picture with a Midwest focus.
And the place to get that perspective is Chicago Sports Guru at Chicago Now.
From now on, all future updates of Big Ten Guru will be happening at Chicago Sports Guru.

I really wasn't sure if the Brett Favre-Jenn Sterger sexting scandal would
get picked up the mainstream media. Sure, it's plenty newsworthy, but
given what I know of the sports promotional firm known as ESPN, and the
horrible precedent they set within the industry, I figured the MSM
might drop the ball once again. I thought it could be the sports media
equivalent of the news media handling the run-up to the Iraq war.
Remember that? In 2002-03, the media establishment's coverage of the upcoming Iraq invasion might be summed by this sentence:
"Everything Bush/Cheney/Condi/Rummy says is 100% right, never to be
questioned, and if you don't want to go to war this exact second you are
a terrorist/communist/nazi/spineless pansy."
And since the Minnesota Vikings QB is the closest thing we have to a sacrosanct omnipotent being in the NFL/sports, I was worried it would happen again.
Glad I'm wrong.

When it's 85 degrees outside, it's somewhat difficult to think about college basketball season, but practice is underway and Notre Dame Media Day is already over.
It was interesting to see if ND Head Coach Mike Brey would
still rock his trademark mock turtleneck underneath a sport coat today,
as this afternoon was shorts and flip-flop weather.
And the light-hearted banter I walked in on (a bit late unfortunately) was all about the topic of wardbrobe, the NBA's new dress code for coaches and how the mock doesn't work for men who are out of shape.
Then the press conference officially began and it was all business.
Well, basketball actually, because that's the business at hand.

Tonight's ESPN broadcast
of Brett Favre and the Minnesota Vikings versus the New York Jets on
Monday Night Football will be fascinating to watch; and I'm not talking
about only the football game. All the evidence of Favre's sexting of Jenn Sterger is common knowledge, and the subject is being widely discussed in most mediums of NFL coverage.
But what will ESPN do tonight? How will they cover an obvious
black-eye for their all-time favorite player? Will they strangle the
golden goose in the name of journalistic integrity?
Favre will not address the allegations, but he also won't deny them. And Ms. Sterger
has been silent about the entire situation. So critics deriding her as a
publicity wh*** are proven wrong, as she has done nothing opportunistic
so far. Of course, I will strike that sentence from the record if/when it's revealed she sold the material to a third party, who later turned it over to Deadspin.
And Deadspin's
critics have been proven wrong too. The website had the goods to back
up their claims; and there was substance supporting the rumors and
gossip. They're actually the whistleblower here, as two more Jets-employed women came forward after the cell phone pics surfaced to indicate Favre harassed them.
We'll discuss the two "winners" in more detail later, but first let's discuss those who took some hits these past couple days.
Totally awesome graphic at the top of this page created by
Yardbarker.com

Obviously, if there's one big winner in the Brett Favre-Jenn Sterger sexting saga it's Deadspin.
And deservedly so, there's a reason ESPN employees get fired if they're
caught browsing it at work (True story! I got additional confirmation
from other sources on the existence of this practice over the weekend).
If there's any justice in the world, Deadspin achieved 20-30 million page views these past few days.
Because the process they employed in releasing this information to
the public was the polar opposite of LeBron James/ESPN's "The Decision."
LeBron's reality special was more of a publicity train wreck on
multiple levels than Fox's "Who wants to marry a millionaire?" in 2000.
But the site that provides sports news without access, favor or discretion had the perfect storm going for them here with Favre-Sterger and they capitalized on it.

The great American poet Cornell Haynes once posed this existential query:
"What does it take to be #1, two is not a winner, and three nobody
remembers." In slightly more recent history, another local wordsmith
named Kanye West stated "number one can't put nothing above that. You
deserve a verse from me, we're going to party like it's our
anniversary."
Today, the Ohio State Buckeyes, favorites to win the Big Ten and contend for a national title, are living these lyrics. With the South Carolina upset over Alabama, the polls have deemed the Buckeyes the new rulers of college football.
OSU fans, I hope you run these two rap references into the ground, exactly like I did in 2004-05 when Illinois was #1 for most of the basketball season.
Here's what some of the stars of the team had to say about it:

In the shadow of Touchdown Jesus at Notre Dame Stadium a savior named Crist is possibly emerging. Remember his name is Crist not Christ, so don't expect miracles right away. But Notre Dame junior QB Dayne Crist
is putting up numbers that have been much better than anyone would
expect given his lack of prior experience. He's made only six career
starts, all this season, and for a program that's transitioning to a new
coach and a new field general in 2010, his solid consistency within
those six starts is a welcome comfort.
After going 24-39 for 242 with a touchdown pass and no picks versus Pitt, Crist discussed his progress.
"It's still a work in progress, I would say. It's still continuing
to develop. We did some good things today and did some things that we'd
like to correct," he said.

If there's one fight song that non-college football songs know, it would be Notre Dame's
"Victory March," likewise for their Alma Mater song "Notre Dame, Our
Mother." You don't have to be "Rudy" or someone sharing his prodigious
passion for ND football to appreciate this video shot by my friend Stephanie Kuzydym inside the Golden Dome on gameday.

You're joking right? The same Brandon Lloyd who used to say what's up to me when we'd pass each other on the quad walking to class at the University of Illinois. The same guy who was the subject of one of my first ever newspaper assignments at the Daily Illini. That's who has 454 receiving yards in four games, just two shy of Reggie Wayne for the NFL lead. Really, the Denver Broncos wideout?
The same guy who had a good quarter of a season with the Chicago Bears
in 2008, before getting injured/falling out of favor with the
coaches/focusing less on football and more on his R&B career and
then being let out of Chicago?
That Brandon Lloyd? Yes.

Going into the Indiana game, the Ohio State Buckeyes
had plenty to worry about. How would the Buckeye's banged up secondary
hold up against Ben Chappell and the Hoosier's prolific passing attack?
How much would Terrelle Pryor's
thigh injury inhibit an Ohio State offense that has relied on his
explosive runs when their backs were against the wall? But what seemed
like threats from the Hoosier squad at kickoff turned into the perfect
treatment for Ohio State to smooth out their rough edges.
By Hans Hetrick

As a noted critic of Ron Zook, I want everyone to take note that this does NOT absolve him for his sins. It absolutely doesn't. I had to even write another sentence to emphasize and link another"Ron Zook is bad" story because that's how many times I've written it.
But on this Saturday, on October 9th, 2010, for this one day only...We, the Illini Nation, are at peace.
We are celebrating that our long national nightmare is finally over.
We have defeated Penn State in our own personal House of Horrors, Beaver Stadium.

As we found out yesterday, the Jenn Sterger allegations against Brett Favre are indeed true. Deadspin delivered the goods,
and the only way Favre could be innocent, is if some elaborate and
carefully orchestrated conspiracy/cover-up were at work. You know those
people who don't believe in the moon landing? Or think O.J. was framed?
Or believe 9/11 was an inside job? The conspiracy would have to be that
complex.
So now that the bomb has been dropped and the mushroom cloud is smoking, time to deal with the fallout.
Let's overlook the fact that Sterger looks EXACTLY like Deanna Favre on a 15 year delay with fake breasts (and later, sans fake breasts) for a moment. Yes, this story is very sophomoric, but both ESPN and the NFL are accountable here. Because it's also serious.
Roger Goodell has been attempting to legislate morality
in his league for some time, and ESPN has become a sports marketing
company; and less a sports news corporation these past few years. It's
time for both to go to work.
By Paul M. Banks

With three of their first four against ranked teams, Notre Dame had their "echoes woken up" on them right off the bat. But at least they had some desert last week in the form of rival Boston College.
Having a 2-3 record after consuming the meat and potatoes of their
schedule isn't catastrophic. But now you can "shake down the thunder"
because the cupcakes are coming! And with the remaining schedule, 7-5 in
2010 still seems very doable.
This week, they welcome Dave Wannstedt (a begrudgingly familiar site to Chicago Bears fans) and his 2-2 Pittsburgh Panthers to Notre Dame Stadium. Wanny has always been like a football
version of a sitcom stock character. "Oh, that wacky neighbor Wanny!
What hi-jinks and tomfoolery will ensue on this weekend's episode?"
Well, if you want to learn more about Pitt and their players, start watching "America's Most Wanted" because this team has more arrests than Rick James and Lindsay Lohan combined.

Part two of my Saturday double-dip is under the lights. The primetime
game at Ryan Field is just the 12th night game in NU's home stadium
history. Interestingly, the night contest will be played almost 75 years
to the day of the first-ever night game in Big Ten history. That game also involved Northwestern and Purdue, on Oct. 5, 1935 in Evanston. What a coincidence.
And I may seem some history Saturday night, as Northwestern has not started 6-0 since 1962, the last time Northwestern was ranked No. 1 in the nation. Yes, that's right, the Wildcats were once ranked #1 at some point in program history.
It's safe to say they won't be ranked #1 at any point in 2010, even
though they may just go undefeated this season. No seriously, as we discussed here,
look at their schedule and 12-0 is doable. Ok, that actually has a very
small chance of happening- but still they're a very good team.
Special thanks and credit to Spread Far the Fame for the graphic above. They have the best NU blog of all. Be sure to check them out.

You know what today is? Hockey's opening day, and with it time to
break down all the team's rosters. In all, 57 former CCHA players are on
NHL opening-day rosters. Michigan leads the way with 15, followed by Michigan State with 11.
Six Ohio State Buckeyes are on NHL opening-day rosters, ranking third among CCHA schools. So the Big Ten is definitely in the hizouse here.
Four NHL regulars from 2009-10 return to their squads for the new year - R.J. Umberger in Columbus, Dave Steckel in Washington, Ryan Kesler in Vancouver and Rod Pelley in New Jersey. Zac Dalpe, who left Ohio State in the spring after two seasons, earned a spot in Carolina's lineup after his first training camp. Tyson Strachan is on the opening-day roster for St. Louis after playing eight games for the Blues a season ago.
Dalpe's Hurricanes take on the Minnesota Wild
at noon ET Thursday as part of the 2010 Compuware NHL Premiere Series
in Helsinki, Finland, to open the 2010-11 NHL campaign (live on Versus
and TSN).

Entering the season, the Green Bay Packers
were the trendy pick for the NFC's representative in the Super Bowl. I
would be interested to see how many of those people would like to go
back and change their predictions after watching the team lose three key
starters to significant injuries. To make matters worse, the Packers
failed at pursuing RB Marshawn Lynch and now have to play the Vikings' Randy Moss (historically a Packer killer) at least twice this season.
Here's a breakdown of each of the Packers' early misfortunes and what they need to do to win the NFC North.
By: Nick Grays

It's that time of year again!!! The air is getting colder, and the
sweaters are coming out. The hockey sweaters that is. Well maybe not
today exactly in Chicago- it's actually perfect and 75 out today. And
it'll be almost 80 this weekend. But eventually, probably a few games
into the regular season, it will get cold, and it will be officially
hockey season. Opening Day of the NHL 2010-11 season is here and today, we take a look at the Chicago Blackhawks, and what to expect for the season.
As you can see from the picture above, Patrick Kane and company, the reigning Stanley Cup Champions, are the toast of the town, America's #1 sports town.
By: Bryan Vickroy

You remember this story from the summer? When Deadspin claimed to have the goods on former Green Bay Packer, New York Jets, and current Minnesota Vikings starting QB Brett Favre. More specifically, claiming that media wh*** Jenn Sterger had pics of Favre's genitalia. It caused quite a stir; it even inspired a hilarious music video.
Still, I was shocked that this story went pretty much ignored by a majority of the mainstream media. Shouldn't this have been a much bigger NFL story? Well, it's about to become one. Especially now that Deadspin claims a Jets PR person may have acted as a liaison between Favre and Sterger.
Wow! it's been a real negative publicity storm for the New York Jets lately.
Ines Sainz, Braylon Edwards, and the inability of both Rex Ryan and Darrelle Revis to keep their mouths shut. It's the perfect storm alright.
Anyways, if Deadspin delivers on what they say they have, D-day is here.

Remember playing football in the schoolyard? When the quarterback, or
maybe even the team itself, just decided not to throw to one individual
for the whole game. Maybe you were that player being ignored, or maybe
you're the one who acted petty, vindictive and childish. But the NFL is too professional for such acts, right?
Not exactly.
When the New England Patriots dismantled their division rival
Dolphins in Miami 41-14 Monday night, they consciously ignored Moss.
With this tacit act, Belichick made it publicly known that Randy had
worn out his welcome in Foxboro.
While the timing of his trade to the Minnesota Vikings,
and the deal itself seem senseless from New England's standpoint- take
the time to look at it with more detail, from the organizational point
of view- it makes perfect sense.

The late John Lennon once got in trouble for saying that The Beatles
were "bigger than Jesus." However, he simply conveyed a valid point- at
that particular moment in history, the Beatles' popularity was arguably
bigger than Jesus Christ in certain places. Lennon also gave us one of
my all-time favorite quotes: "life is what happens when you're busy
making other plans."
Both apply to Michigan Wolverines football and their QB, the Heisman Trophy front-runner Denard Robinson.
His numbers, his media coverage and his persona are getting huge right
now- by the end of senior year he could be bigger than Tim Tebow (i.e.
bigger than Jesus.) In certain parts of Michigan, maybe so already.
And no one counted on nor expected this production. Remember the talk
of a balanced attack in the spread-option? Remember the days when Tate
Forcier was the starter? Denard is what happens when you make other plans.

October 6 - Chicago, with the Stanley Cup-winning Blackhawks and fast-rising Bulls leading the way, is No. 1 in Sporting News' 17th annual Best Sports Cities rankings. This is the third time the second city has received the honor.
The Windy City dethroned 2009's No. 1 Pittsburgh, a first-time winner in 2009 and No. 12 in 2010's rankings.

As he enters his senior year, Illinois point guard Demetri McCamey has secured his reputation as among the top players not only in the Big Ten, but the nation.
No one has doubted McCamey's potential, but there have been questions
aplenty about his work ethic and maturity. However, he's made big
strides all three years that he's been in Champaign, and now he finds
himself a candidate to join his former high school teammate and friend Evan Turner as a winner of the Wooden Award.
Eleven conferences are represented on the Wooden Award Preseason
List. Leading the way is the Big 10 (10), followed by the ACC (8), Big
East (7), SEC (3), Big 12 (7), Pac-10 (6), Atlantic 10 (3), Mountain
West (2), West Coast (2); and Conference USA, and the Horizon League
with one apiece.

Entering last Saturday, one of the keys to an Illinois upset over #2 Ohio State was for the Illini to attack the Buckeyes defense through the air. Sure, it's the weakest part of this Illini team, but the Buckeyes are so stout against the run that making plays in the passing game was critical.
The Illini hung with 'em for all but the last couple minutes, but
ultimately failed in their upset bid. They made some plays in the
vertical passing game during the first quarter, but their final box
score showed less than 140 yards passing for the game. And they enter
this Saturday's matchup with Penn State just 113/120 teams in all of FBS
in passing offense.
We know that redshirt freshman QB Nathan Scheelhaase has
a great arm. We now need to see him use it. We've seen him beat people
on the ground, now we need to see Scheelhaase do it through the air.

Despite the departure of star forward Kevin Coble, things are looking up for the Northwestern hoops
program. When was the last time a Wildcat player was named to the
Wooden Award watch list? Evan Eschmeyer during one of his 12 years of
college eligibility? Jim Stack in the 1960s?
Well you can add junior forward John Shurna to the list.

The "Cardiac Cats" have broken through in the national polls. Off to a 5-0
start for the second time in three years, Northwestern
climbed into the USA Today/Coaches' Top-25 football ranking today at No. 25. The Wildcats
improved to 5-0 on the year and won their eighth straight regular-season
contest Saturday with a 29-28 victory at lowly Minnesota.
They call them the Cardiac Cats because often when they win it's not by much,
even against bottom feeders like the Gophers
in Minneapolis. (Or Eastern Michigan in '09, or Duke in '08) But still they
"just win, baby" and the triumph marked the Wildcats' 10th road win--a Big Ten
Conference-best--since the start of the 2008 season. Northwestern also improved
to 17-6 in games decided by a touchdown or less in the Pat
Fitzgerald era.

Former MLB corner outfielder
Matt Murton hit .286/.352/.436 in his 1,058 plate, 354 games for the Cubs,
Rockies, and A's. However, the 2003 first round pick never made it in the big
leagues. But in Japan he's hitting .349 with 17 home runs and 88 RBIs. He's not
only big in Japan, he's historically huge in Japan.
According to Chicago
Breaking Sports.com

Chicago may be nicknamed "the windy city," but there's another place in Illinois,
about three hours south, reknown for powerful wind. (The "Windy City"
moniker actually has nothing to do with wind. It actually originated
with New York City politicians condescending to Chicago city officials
who talked a big game about the 1893 World's Fair).
Zuppke Field, at University of Illinois'
Memorial Stadium, is a place where gale force winds can affect the
outcome of a game as much as player performances and coaching decisions.
You might recall 2002 Chicago Bears vs. Detroit Lions,
when Lions Coach Marty Mohrniweg made the ill-fated, bone-headed
decision to give up the ball in overtime, in order to have that infamous
wind at his back.
Ohio State senior free safety Jermale Hines
noticed. "It was big because the offense is so limited. When facing the
wind, they tend not to throw the ball too deep, a lot of short passes
and things like that. And with the wind, they tend to try to go deep,"
the 6-1, 216 pound DB from Cleveland said.

It sure didn't take long for the serious injury bug to bite a
NBA
superstar. Less than a week after practice began, and a couple a days
before preseason games begin, we have an announcement on the status of
the
Chicago Bulls' Carlos Boozer.

Is there any more activity over at fireronzook.com?
After Saturday's "moral victory" loss against #2-ranked Ohio State, it definitely should be.
While the Illini were
not expected to be close, and weren't supposed to win the game, they
were driving to tie late in the game, and had a chance to completely
turn the college football world on its ear.
That's when Zook gagged on his headset mic.

Wisconsin Badgers' starting quarterback Scott Tolzien may not be as flashy as Denard Robinson, Terrelle Pryor or even Ricky Stanzi, when it comes to his fellow Big Ten quarterbacks.
However, he does compare in effectiveness. The senior from Rolling
Meadows, IL ranks eighth in the country with a passer rating of 176.2.
His career pass efficiency of 149.8 is the best in Wisconsin history and
ranks eighth among active FBS quarterbacks with at least 20 games
started.
For a team which is always known for their running game, Badger
quarterbacks are usually stuck in the role of an unsung hero. How many
have already forgotten the names Jim Sorgi, John Stocco and Tyler
Donovan?
Tolzien is doing his best to change the perception in Madison by
establishing a passing game on one of the most high-powered offenses in
the country.
By: Nick Grays