NBC attracts His Airness to C-U
From October 16, 2007:
Article in Champaign daily The News-Gazette about the taping of a segment for NBC‘s The Today Show in Champaign-Urbana featuring University of Illinois men’s basketball coach Bruce Weber, freshman walk-on player Jeff Jordan, and his father Michael Jordan. (Remember that the direct link to this article will expire after Monday, October 22.)
~~~~~
Editor’s note: Who am I to argue this call? Almost 10 years after going out on top with his (and the Chicago Bulls‘) last NBA championship – and, yes, I’m ignoring his on-court encore with the Washington Wizards – MJ will now look on from the sidelines as his son takes center stage. Can lightning strike twice thanks to lineage? We’ll see. All I know is that the Jordans’ presence on the Assembly Hall floorboards is way more welcome than that of Chief Illiniwek. Maybe UIUC will upgrade their athletic pedigree so much in the future that Loren Tate will be too busy actually reporting to ever write a wishy-washy pro-Chief column again. The mere thought makes me happy.
Speaking of the News-Gazette, once again we redefine the apparently limited circumstances under which local film/video coverage will appear on their Web site. This must mean that if their editors can identify stories involving A. Ebertfest, B. crime, C. local theater business news, D. academic or socially conscious issues, or E. Fighting Illini athletics, it’s a hella slam dunk. Yes, the sports cliche is a dirty thing, but somebody has to abuse ’em.
~ Jason Pankoke