People can say what they want. They can call me a racist, they can say that I am a bigot, but Chief Illiniwek represented all that was honorable on our campus. For over eighty years the Chief stood as a symbol of honor, loyalty, courage, and respect. Now, the NCAA has decided that they no longer wish for us to honor or remember Native Americans with these qualities. The Chief danced his last halftime performance tonight, and a little piece inside of me died. It honestly feels like I have returned from a funeral.

Tonight was a very special night. For starters, it was a big game against our rivals Michigan. It was also senior night. However, perhaps most importantly, it was the last night to celebrate the Chief.
The halftime performance was stunning. I couldn’t believe that this was the last time I would watch the crowd go wild after those famous leg kicks. I don’t believe that the words to Alma Mater will ever be sang as loud, or with such emotion as on this night. Just when we all thought it was over, the Chief turned back, and addressed all portions of the crowd. It was a perfect way to go out. There were standing ovations as the camera followed him down the hallway to the locker rooms. At this point, over half of the students in the cheering section removed our orange and wore black in remembrance of the Chief for the remainder of the game.

The Chief will be greatly missed. Right now, I can’t even comprehend that he is gone for good. It seems so foreign to me, that when I introduce my children to the University of Illinois, I will have to tell them about when the University had a real mascot - when the Chief was still allowed to dance. The PC crowd may have killed our hero, but he his honor and legacy will live on. I can only pray that the University will do what is necessary to preserve and commemorate this wonderful tradition. Perhaps a statue, or a museum. At the very least, the Chief’s regalia should be put on display somewhere.

I would like to thank Mr. Dan Maloney, and every Chief that came before him. You have created a wonderful legacy of honor and integrity. I appreciated your efforts to Save the Chief, and I know that you did all that you could. You kept the Chief’s dignity even to the moment you walked off the court (even in the hallway where you stood for the remainder of halftime for that matter).

Chief- you will be missed by many. Its sad that the ridiculousness of a few vocal individuals and the cowards at the NCAA were finally able to get the best of you.

Update: ESPN’s coverage of The Chief’s Last Dance

I’m currently listening to: The Hold Steady - Boys & Girls in America - First Night

How good are The Hold Steady?  If you kindly direct your attention to the right side of the page, you will note that my listening habits for last week (not including iPod) consist of:

• The Hold Steady - 155
• SSLYBY - 33
• matt Pond PA - 31
• TGUK - 23
• Rise Against 14

That 155 is a vast understatement, because I can assure you that they never left the rotation of my iPod for more than maybe an album here or there.  This album is just so addicting.  I love the hooks, I love the storytelling.  I cannot get enough of it.

In other news, I did in fact score a 100% on my economics exam.  Hopefully this is a sign of great things to come on future exams (473, that means you).

I’m currently listening to:Brand New - Your Favorite Weapon - Jude Law and a Semester Abroad

Alright, so last night, I watched the last two episodes of season two of Lost. I’m not going to lie, waiting until October to see a new episode is going to kill me. I’ll probably be going through withdrawl. However, the number of pseudo-answers and mysteries that were developed in the last few episodes have definitely given me enough to ponder. Now my sister needs to catch up so that I can discuss all of my questions and theories with her, or at least post them here without giving her spoilers. However, the story I am telling really starts after I go to bed.

I finally fell asleep sometime close to 1:45am. At around two, I hear Andy open the front door, and some girl asks if we have a cheese grater. Then she asks if Andy is in Fin 300 and something about a screwdriver, and before I know it, there are two girls in our apartment sitting on the lovesac. At this point, I decided I should probably get up and throw some clothes on to investigate. Apparently, when you are high at 2am, tacos are the food of choice, and these poor girls had all of the ingredients aside from cheese. Unfortunately for them, we had just used all of our cheese on the tacos we ate for dinner. Ironic, I know. We then spent the next half hour or so visiting with one of the few social tenants of 1010 W Stoughton (the other girl didn’t really live here), learning about this mythical courtyard that apparently exists in our building, among other things. After a while, they decided it was time to re-embark on their mission of finding a cheese grater, and returning the disguisting one they borrowed from some girl they didn’t trust. This morning, on the way to class, I ran into them again and they informed me that they had in fact found a cheese grater (and a six sided one at that!). I’m pretty amazed because after all, who keeps a cheese grater in a college apartment?  That is my story for yesterday.

-John