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Question of the day

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Illinois

* Kinda slow around here today. Open thread?

The usual Illinois-centric and kindness rules will apply, of course.

posted by Rich Miller
Monday, Jul 30, 18 @ 3:43 pm

Comments

Has Rauner been out on the campaign trail? It seems four years ago he was everywhere, now not so much. Now Pritzker seems to be everywhere. (this is solely based on social media)

Comment by Almost the weekend Monday, Jul 30, 18 @ 3:46 pm
The price of sodeepop just went up due to 1%erent Trumps stable genius tariffs.

I wonder how his corpulent base will react?

#TrueBelieversStillBelieve?

Comment by Anonymous Monday, Jul 30, 18 @ 3:50 pm
Hey P.T.Do you think Rauner will sign SB 336?

Comment by Anonymous Monday, Jul 30, 18 @ 3:55 pm
Has Rauner started messaging to suburban women that he signed HB 40? Any mailers hitting Lake County yet?

Comment by Fax Machine Monday, Jul 30, 18 @ 3:58 pm
After being denied entry into the Trump pep rally last Thursday, I stopped to see my son in Waterloo. He took me to the county fair. Bost was there working the crowd. Big time. Kelley is going to have to win st. Clair by a larger amount than the usual Den

Comment by BlueDogDem Monday, Jul 30, 18 @ 4:00 pm
Today is, I believe, the deadline for Rauner/CMS to present a plan to the LRB for restoring AFSCME members’ step increases & paying them back pay.

Comment by Nick Name Monday, Jul 30, 18 @ 4:01 pm
Nick Name, I believe you are correct, and have yet to hear a peep on it anywhere.

Comment by Fixer Monday, Jul 30, 18 @ 4:12 pm
The Bears open the season in a few days.

I am predicting 6 wins. Over or under?

Comment by I Miss Bentohs Monday, Jul 30, 18 @ 4:13 pm
“Now Pritzker seems to be everywhere.”

He and Stratton seem to be doing grassroots/unity events every day, or attending public events like festivals.

All I see now are Pritzker commercials on TV, for the last few days—specifically the one about the over 7,000 jobs he helped create. I haven’t seen any Rauner ads very recently, but I was watching TV for short time periods, so maybe I missed them.

Comment by Grandson of Man Monday, Jul 30, 18 @ 4:15 pm
To Nick Name - I thought Rauner had until the end of tomorrow to present the step raises plan? We should know soon though.

Comment by Seats Monday, Jul 30, 18 @ 4:18 pm
@IMB, I’m a GB fan and think CHI can get at least 8 wins maybe 9? Allen Robinson and there RB rotation will help the offense. Viks will not be as awesome as some people think? Pack win win the North with 11 wins

Comment by 10th Ward Monday, Jul 30, 18 @ 4:18 pm
My dad asked me how long we have to wait to see if Rauner is going to sign the hemp bill? I told him I was not sure but I though 60 days or around August 28th. Anybody got the details on this?

Comment by Al Monday, Jul 30, 18 @ 4:19 pm
Lovie Smith’s time with the Illini is probably nearing its end.

Smith never shoulda been fired by the Bears.

Smith never shoulda been hired by Illinois.

All the renovations done in Champaign, will there be one B1G victory this season for the Illini?

Comment by Oswego Willy Monday, Jul 30, 18 @ 4:25 pm
===To Nick Name - I thought Rauner had until the end of tomorrow to present the step raises plan? We should know soon though.===

He was given 20 days and the LRB met on the 10th, so I assumed the deadline was today. But yeah you’re right: we’ll know soon enough.

What are the odds Rauner will:
- present a plan
- stall again, or
- ignore it entirely?

Comment by Nick Name Monday, Jul 30, 18 @ 4:25 pm
In many ways, except for the Governors race, this is the quiet time as far as campaigns go. I live in a Senate District that has Jason Plummer running yet again in a District that definitely leans Red.

Willy, my friend, do you think we will have some honest fun with his campaign yet again?

Comment by illini Monday, Jul 30, 18 @ 4:26 pm
Nick Name:
I just hope the Labor Board doesn’t sit quietly on his recommendations until their next state panel meeting held on
Tuesday, August 15, 2018 at 10:00 a.m

Comment by Seats Monday, Jul 30, 18 @ 4:28 pm
In any Statewide, Congressional, House, Senate, County race out there.Someone is going to be the head scratching, how did that happen victory come Nov 7 who do you think it will be?

Comment by DuPage Bard Monday, Jul 30, 18 @ 4:28 pm
===Lovie Smith’s time with the Illini is probably nearing its end.===

Maybe, but I doubt it. First, it’s only going to be his third season, second with “his” players. Second, U of I is a basketball school and its problems are in that sport. Underwood’s long time former assistant coach at Oklahoma State was indicted by the Justice Dept. Not good. Even more not good, Underwood hasn’t exactly lit the world on fire with his recruiting.

By comparison, Lovie is at least good PR for the program, alumni and donors. I think they’ll give him one more year after this to see if any progress is made. They have low expectations for football, so why not keep him?

The expectations are a lot higher in basketball, so the AD has his hands full at the moment.

Comment by 47th Ward Monday, Jul 30, 18 @ 4:37 pm
===… my friend, do you think we will have some honest fun with his campaign yet again?===

My friend, my friend…

Think the Guv’s race is sucking all the oxygen out of lots things. My hope is Jason will feel ignored after Labor Day and do goofy stuff.

Fingers crossed. For both our amusement.

OW

Comment by Oswego Willy Monday, Jul 30, 18 @ 4:38 pm
–The Bears open the season in a few days.–

Sunday, Sept 9, night, in Green Bay.

Pre-season games are beyond ridiculous, as either preparation or entertainment.

They’re beer money for ownership, as players don’t begin drawing their base salaries until the regular season.

Comment by wordslinger Monday, Jul 30, 18 @ 4:44 pm
It’s been a long time of hopelessness with the Bears, through the Cutler years. The NFC title loss at home to Green Bay in 2011 was a terrible one, but Cutler got hurt and left the game.

Now with a new QB and head coach I try to have hope that the Bears will improve. I love pro football and miss the excitement and anticipation of winning seasons and playoffs.

Comment by Grandson of Man Monday, Jul 30, 18 @ 4:51 pm
===First, it’s only going to be his third season, second with “his” players. Second, U of I is a basketball school and its problems are in that sport. Underwood’s long time former assistant coach at Oklahoma State was indicted by the Justice Dept. Not good. Even more not good, Underwood hasn’t exactly lit the world on fire with his recruiting.===

All true, I was also factoring in the siren song of the NFL come December and trans seeing Lovie with a “5 win season, missing a bowl invite” and see a coach maybe tiring of talking to 17-18 year olds deciding on Illinois.

===By comparison, Lovie is at least good PR for the program, alumni and donors. I think they’ll give him one more year after this to see if any progress is made. They have low expectations for football, so why not keep him?===

This FBI basketball scandal is crazy, and once trials begin, whew. With that precursor, if Illini basketball isn’t post season bound… the whole athletic program seems to be on diff sand.

I’d love to see both programs grow. Illinois in a bowl, how great is that. Basketball sets high bars, let’s him them again.

Comment by Oswego Willy Monday, Jul 30, 18 @ 4:54 pm
==Has Rauner been out on the campaign trail? It seems four years ago he was everywhere, now not so much. Now Pritzker seems to be everywhere.==

It’s a lot easier to campaign for the job when you don’t already have the job (At least in terms of personal appearances).

Comment by Arsenal Monday, Jul 30, 18 @ 5:00 pm
===I was also factoring in the siren song of the NFL come December…===

I’m pretty sure this is Lovie’s last real coaching job. The problem is, he’s acting like he’s already retired. He might get hired as a consultant to an NFL team, but I think his NFL coaching days are long over.

The FBI scandal is big. The first round of indictments centered on Adidas and how that company funneled money to programs and ultimately to players and/or parents. If I was an executive at Nike, Converse or Under Armour, I’d be a little nervous. Nobody believes Adidas invented this little twist on recruiting or that it was its only practitioner.

The hope is that Underwood didn’t know it was happening under his nose for so long. While that’s a possibility, lol, it’s a remote one.

Comment by 47th Ward Monday, Jul 30, 18 @ 5:07 pm
47, I bleed orange and blue, but I can’t get enthused about Lovie’s program and can’t find too many folks down here that are either. More chat about his beard at B1G Media Day than the team. Consensus cellar dweller from writers’ poll; worse odds than Rutgers.

Whitman doesn’t have a lot of time to turn around either program. I don’t think another 2-9 or 3-8 football season with the quality of non-B1G opponents is going to cut it, but we’ll see.

Underwood may have a little more time. He said adieu to a bunch of young men who couldn’t or were unwilling to learn his system and now they need to step it up. Agree with OW that it’s gonna get tougher if they aren’t playing in March.

Changing subjects, Jason was in Springfield recently and handled himself well on a TIF protest of a new business that wants a seven-figure TIF grant to open a dormant lumberyard and compete with the Plummers. The local schools and others agree with their position. (We hand TIF cash out like TicTacs in the Patch.)

Comment by Arthur Andersen Monday, Jul 30, 18 @ 5:11 pm
I have mixed feelings right now about Lovie. His 6 year $21 million compensation package brought with it very high expectations that have not been met,

It would cost him over $4.5 million to get out of the contact should he choose to do so, but, at this point in his contract the University would owe him $12 million if he was released “without cause”.

Hard call right now, but I only want to see some serious improvement this year.

Comment by illini Monday, Jul 30, 18 @ 5:15 pm
To Illini - Isn’t Tampa Bay paying for some of the Illini’s contract?

Comment by Seats Monday, Jul 30, 18 @ 5:26 pm
@AA - I do concur with your assessments of Lovie, Underwood and Whitman. I’m more of a basketball fan and had great expectations, but with the fallout that has occurred I’m not quite sure what to expect.

As to Jason and the 50 store RP empire - I have to wonder how many times the family business has availed themselves of the same TIF programs he now protests?

Comment by illini Monday, Jul 30, 18 @ 5:27 pm
@Seats - I can find no record of that in anything I read about his contract with the University.

Comment by illini Monday, Jul 30, 18 @ 5:34 pm
Illini -

Smith has agreed to a six-year, $21 million deal with the program. He’ll be paid $2 million annually for the 2016 and 2017 seasons, $3 million in 2018, $4 million in 2019, and $5 million for both 2020 and 2021. According to the press release, Smith will also have incentives tied team academic and athletic achievements.

The Illinois Board of Trustees will meet to approve Smith’s contract on March 16.

Smith is still owed $10 million from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers over the next two years, so they’ll be paying the difference between the two salaries ($3 million). That’s allowing Illinois to backload the contract, which will in turn provide Smith with more funds to hire a coaching staff. So, overall, this seems to be a pretty nice contract for both sides.

Comment by Seats Monday, Jul 30, 18 @ 5:52 pm
I called the labor board at 4:30. They didn’t have anything from Rauner yet. My guess is he dropped something in the mail to them requesting more time to answer. I submitted a FOIA request for whatever he sends them.

Comment by Anon Monday, Jul 30, 18 @ 6:28 pm
Illini, Jason said the other night that they don’t take TIF money.

Comment by Arthur Andersen Monday, Jul 30, 18 @ 6:53 pm
Thank you @AA. That can be checked and verified.

Comment by illini Monday, Jul 30, 18 @ 7:08 pm
@ Nick Name, Seats, and Anon,
I think Governor “let them eat cake” is waiting as long as possible to reply to the Labor Board, if at all, and we, unfortunately, will be waiting at least 75 more days.

Comment by fancymeasuperstar Monday, Jul 30, 18 @ 8:59 pm
@fancymeasuperstar - I fear you are correct.

Comment by Nick Name Tuesday, Jul 31, 18 @ 9:13 am
A friend said he called the labor board this morning. They have Rauner’s notice but told him they weren’t sure they could release it or not. They wouldn’t tell him what it said.

Comment by Anon Tuesday, Jul 31, 18 @ 10:04 am