Imrem: Feel-good NU story not so good for Illini fans
Not everyone feels good about the feel-good story of the NCAA Tournament.
A fellow Illinois alum reminded me of that by sounding bitter when we discussed Northwestern this week.
He snickered at the mention of the Wildcats; pointed out that the Fighting Illini were 2-0 against them this season; predicted NU would be one-and-done in the tourney.
I don't know how many Illinois fans feel that way. Some probably don't care one way or the other about Northwestern's game Thursday against Vanderbilt.
Other Illini might even want Northwestern to beat Vandy and embarrass Illini administrators even more for administering the school's basketball decline.
For a long time, Northwestern was to Illinois what the White Sox were to the Cubs: Barely worth acknowledging.
Rivals? Not really. Northwestern was worse even when Illinois was bad in football and basketball.
Now that was a real feel-good story.
Today the Illini must have Evanston envy as the Wildcats go to football bowl games and, of all things, to the NCAA basketball tournament for the first time.
Illinois basketball fans can blame the Illini themselves for missing the NCAAs the past four seasons.
It's what happens when you hire an inferior athletic director like Mike Thomas and he hires an inferior head coach like John Groce.
Northwestern is in the NCAA Tournament … current Illinois AD Josh Whitman is looking for another new coach … connect the frustrating dots.
Me? I'm happy for NU because as a sports writer the only thing I'm more loyal to than Illinois is a great story.
They taught me that in journalism school down there, and Northwestern is a great story.
As for other Illinois athletic supporters, so to speak, the same principle that applies to the Cubs and White Sox applies to the Illini and Wildcats.
Cubs fans shouldn't pull for the Sox; Sox fans shouldn't pull for the Cubs; NU fans shouldn't pull for Illinois; Illinois fans shouldn't pull for NU.
Remember how irritating it was for Sox fans to watch the World Series and see Bill Murray, Eddie Vedder and other celebrities glorified as Cubs fans?
Multiply that by 10, Illini, because Julia Louis-Dreyfus alone will be on TV from the NU cheering section Thursday more than she was on “Seinfeld” for nine seasons.
National and local NU grads/alleged journalists have on their cheerleader skirts to sis-boom-bombard us with Wildcats gushes.
And that's just the males.
Don't blame them.
No matter how you grew up, a Cubs or White Sox fan, you can outgrow your allegiance and either switch teams or become an objective observer.
College sports are different. A college degree binds you to the school for the rest of your life.
(Sad to share: When Illinois was on the road toward the Rose Bowl in 1963, I stood on a chair in a Champaign bar and played the Illini fight song on a kazoo.)
This basketball season I pulled for NU to make the tournament because of the story, but the 'Cats have gone from a flea on the Illini-mobile's windshield to the elephant in the room.
Chicago's Big Ten team? It sure seems that Illinois has surrendered that designation to Northwestern.
For the sake of the story today, “Go 'Cats!”
For the sake of my Illini friends, “Go down 'Cats!”
mimrem@dailyherald.com