CCC Preview

It looks like the D Line will be at full strength this weekend. Lamp adjusted his schedule, Rip is still broken but able to play, and if Lefty gets his mask on time, it’s game over for any offense that we’ll face this weekend.

Classic City Classic always draws good competition, and this year is no exception. Wisconsin, Colorado, Florida, and Georgia are seen as the big players coming into the last tournament of the fall, but one doesn’t always know what to expect. Teams usually use this tournament to make their final A team cuts for the spring season. Overplaying a rookie line on Saturday could jeopardize a team’s chance to make the championship bracket on Sunday; however, players step up when the situation calls for it. Any rookie at any time could break out and change the entire dynamic of the tournament.

The Illini have some favorable match-ups in their pool and a legitimate chance to vault their fourth seed and make a run at the big dogs on Sunday. We have five rounds and zero byes on Saturday. That’s a long day for every team at the fields. We need to take advantage of the easy games and maximize our recovery time.

Each game on Saturday looks to be a good match up for the Illini, and every team is very beatable. But we cannot afford to look past any one of these teams. That was a big part of our downfall at MLC. If we take a game for granted, we’ll find ourselves in a dog fight when we should’ve won it 20 minutes ago. This tournament is the last chance to play for two whole months. Bring everything every game. Don’t save anything for later, because there is no later.

Now, I am normally a nice guy that has a lot of respect for his opponent. I hold the spirit of the game near and dear to my heart and would rather make friends on the field than enemies (pretty much the exact opposite of pappy). However, there is one dark spot in my soul that is reserved for Wisconsin-Whitewater. I hate these guys, and seeing them seeded above us in our pool just touches off every nerve in my being. The last time we met, I laid out into a kid causing head-on collision that literally knocked him out of the game and into an ambulance (true story, just ask any one who went to MLC last year). As broken as I am, I will not hesitate to break one of those tools in half by laying out through him. I’m pretty sure that most of the team feels the same way. So if you’re reading this, Whitewater, be prepared for the game of your lives on Saturday, and look out for number six. He’s coming for ya.