Oct. 9, 2007
Great Win
Our football team concluded the first half of the season with an exciting overtime victory at Michigan State (we are now 6-0 in overtime games against Big Ten opponents). It was the kind of win that can define a season and should give us momentum as we head into the second half of the season. Although we had some disappointing performances in the first half of the season (Duke, Ohio State), we are playing our best football now. While we lost the Michigan game, I thought it was the best game we had played all year, and we carried that performance over to the Michigan State game (and eliminated the turnovers). The win over Michigan State was a true team victory, but I was glad that C.J. Bachér was recognized for his outstanding performance. He was named national offensive player of the week, as well as Big Ten offensive player of the week, for a performance that included a school-record 520 yards passing and 5 touchdowns. Congratulations to C.J. and the team for a great win.
Big Ten Network
Although the Big Ten Network has not yet reached agreements with the major cable companies (i.e., Comcast, Time Warner) regarding the placement of the Network, they have signed two significant agreements in recent weeks. First, the Network reached agreement with the Dish Network, giving the Network carriage in over 30 million homes nationwide. The Network has agreements with both DirecTV (15 million homes) and Dish Network (13 million homes) -- the two major satellite TV companies in the country. Also, the Network reached an agreement with RCN, a cable company with several hundred thousand homes in Chicago. I encourage our fans to consider the possibility of switching to satellite TV or RCN, if possible. The quality of the broadcasts (as well as the other programs on the Network) is outstanding, and, as we head into the winter sports season, more of our teams' games will be televised on the Network. Twenty-two of our men's basketball games and eight of our women's basketball games will be televised.
Men's Soccer
Our men's soccer team is off to a great start this season, having earned a national ranking of No. 3 in the country. (We are now ranked No. 6.) The team's performance has shown that last year's run to the quarterfinals was not a fluke, and the team seems poised to have another strong run in the NCAA tournament. Head coach Tim Lenahan has done an outstanding job in building our team into a consistent winner.