Big Ten teams must learn to loosen up

Illinois was doomed in the Rose Bowl as soon as two things happened.

The first was a decision Fighting Illini head coach Ron Zook made in mid-December.

"Zook won't allow any distractions," a headline read. The subhead added, "Illini coach keeping his star tailback away from the media."

The second was that Illinois players wouldn't visit prominent alumnus Hugh Hefner at the Playboy mansion.

Memories flared from the two Rose Bowls that I covered.

One was Illinois' loss to UCLA in 1984, the other Northwestern's loss to USC in 1996. The lesson was that Big Ten teams aren't likely to manage the distractions so they might as well enjoy them.

Especially when the opponent is USC or UCLA.

This Rose Bowl was the Trojans' 32nd and the Illini's fifth. It's just a big football game to USC. Illinois couldn't win by making it something even bigger.

It's hard to say from a couple thousand miles away that the Illini weren't loose enough while falling behind early or that the offensive game plan was too rigid much of the first half.

Illinois just wasn't good enough. After all, the Illini didn't belong in a BCS game on merit anyway.

Yes, USC is considerably better, as its 49-17 victory indicated Tuesday. The Illini couldn't match the Trojans' talent, and they certainly couldn't by pitting Florsheims against flip-flops.

A TV analyst reported before the game that Zook said he was nervous about the game. If so, what, were Illini players supposed to calm the coach instead of vice versa?

You know, Midwesterners are just too uptight over football. It's the Woody Hayes/Bo Schembechler syndrome -- tight-lipped, tight-fisted, tight-collared, tight-reared, tight-everything.

At a news conference 24 years ago, legendary Los Angeles Times columnist Jim Murray began a question to Illinois coach Mike White this way: "Coach, about the garrison mentality ..."

He meant the way Big Ten coaches tried to insulate players from Tinseltown's temptations. White did allow his players to go to Hef's house but was otherwise protective.

Meanwhile, a couple of us asked to interview a couple Bruins. Sure, we were told. When we got to practice, casual came to mind. Players were among students shadow-swinging golf clubs.

At lunch, All-American safety Don Rogers and quarterback Rick Neuheisel sat talking with us as long as we wanted.

A few days later UCLA beat Illinois 45-9 with Neuheisel the MVP.

Not much changed by the time Northwestern went to the Rose Bowl 12 years later.

I phoned USC to ask what the media policy was at practice. Come on down, I was told. I walked right through a door on a tall green fence. Watched part of practice as if it were as open as a math class.

A USC p.r. guy asked whether I wanted to talk with head coach John Robinson. Nah, I had heard enough from him. Apparently desperate for me to interview somebody, the guy said, "How about Keyshawn?"

Heck, why not? I didn't have much to ask Keyshawn Johnson. He didn't have much to say. But I asked and he answered anyway.

A few days later USC beat Northwestern 41-32.

The best advice for a Big Ten team in the Rose Bowl against USC or UCLA is to loosen up.

Maybe the Illini should bring their golf clubs to practice the next time they're in Pasadena.