[NU Sports] Fitz! Fitz! Fitz! Fitz!

[SjT (Stephen J. Truog)]

I could go on and on.

What a game today and what a season. Congrats to Coach Fitz, Coach Hank and the rest of the staff and our players - led by a great group of seniors - on thrashing our rival to secure a 9-win season and a bowl berth.

It's easy to lose perspective in a season, but looking back it was a heck of a coaching job and leadership performance by these seniors with all the injuries and change in coaching staffs and such.

And remember that Fitz is only in his third year. He is truly "our JoePA" and I hope we can see Fitz walking the sidelines in Evanston for a long, long time. He is a class act, he has really become a heck of a coach and he is someone who makes us proud to wear purple every day he's on our sidelines - as a player or coach. He really does seem to be combining the best of our last two coaches -- the endless optimism and inspiration of Barnett with the tough underdog and grittiness of Walker.

Any season where you beat Iowa, Wisconsin and Illinois is a good season. We didn't get a crack at the Badgers, but 2-0 against the rest ain't too shabby. Yes, the Indiana loss is maddening, but the Iowa and Minnesota wins on the road were good and even Fitz and Barnett had their "what the heck?" losses in their big years (Miami in '95 and frickin' Iowa in '00). Now Fitz needs to do his mentors one better and win the bowl! I can't WAIT to see what Hankwitz does with a month to prepare.

Just a great year and our best game defensively of the season to keep the Ill-whine-I home for the holidays. Three years after taking over in the wake of a tragedy, he has really put his stamp on this program and NU is not going to go away under Fitz' watch!

Well done, coach.

Around the league ...

* Ouch, ouch, ouch, ouch. So much for rivalry Saturday - no game was close.

* We seem to have a clear pecking order in the Big Ten for bowls -- PSU, OSU, MSU, Iowa, NU, Wisky, Minny -- and the only real quibble is Iowa over us, since WE BEAT THEM! But I guess it's to be expected. Now the question is whether we get two BCS teams. OSU made a good case, but they need that other OSU to lose so USC doesn't take their at-large bid in Tempe. Since it appears Utah ain't gonna lose.

* Oh, and I'd be remiss if I didn't mention Syracuse' rally in South Bend! I hope Charlie Weis is walking their sidelines for a long, long time as well. You reap what you sow, Irish and you're getting karma payback in full for the Willingham embarassment. Good luck trying to beat SC to get a bowl bid.

Fourth place. Nine wins. Sweet Sioux for the last time.
Great Job, CATS!!!
LET'S GO BOWLING ... AND WIN!!!

GO CATS!!!
-SjT

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STEPHEN J. TRUOG
sjtruog at yahoo.com
GO CATS!!!