Is slobber-knocker even a word?

I don't know, but that's how I would describe tonight's Big Ten opener in West Lafayette, Ind. There was a lot of tough, physical defense being played in this game. And the Illini pulled through in overtime, upsetting the No. 9 Boilermakers 71-67.

As an Illinois fan, it was nice to see some other team miss critical free throws for a change. Purdue finished the evening 15-for-27 from the line, included a huge miss by JaJuan Johnson with 1.9 seconds left in regulation that would have won the game for the Boilers.

Meanwhile, the Illini sunk 10 of their 13 foul shots, including six in the final minute of the extra session. Demetri McCamey missed his first three attempts of the night, but he was 4-for-4 when it mattered most. Trent Meacham also knocked in a couple to help ice the win.

The Illini received a strong effort from sophomore center Mike Tisdale (pictured). He finished with 18 points and six rebounds before fouling out with 2:05 left in regulation. Tisdale needs to do a better job of avoiding silly fouls, but he is showing a nice touch around the basket.

Alex Legion, in just his fourth game since regaining eligibility, also came up big for Illinois. He contributed 12 points off the bench on 5-for-11 shooting.

The Illini are now 13-1 on the year and face another road game against a strong opponent on Sunday, when they travel to Ann Arbor to face No. 23 Michigan.

Excellent performance tonight against a high-quality opponent and a huge win for Bruce Weber and the program.

The wins just keep coming for the Blackhawks. A lot of people were wondering whether the five-day Christmas break would slow their roll. It hasn't.

The Hawks demolished a strong Philadelphia team 5-1 Friday night on home ice. That game very easily could have been 7- or 8-1. Then, they went on the road Sunday night and collected an impressive 4-1 victory over the Minnesota Wild.

That makes nine wins in a row, a new franchise record for a team that has been playing games since 1926.

"That was a big win for us," Hawks coach Joel Quenneville said Sunday in Minnesota. "It's a special achievement for the whole group. They should be proud.

"We had a real good effort across the board. All aspects and areas of our game were solid."

Just to note, this winning streak is a new REGULAR SEASON record. Long-time Hawks fans will probably remember an 11-game winning streak during the 1992 playoffs.

Next up for the Hawks: A couple of key games against division-leading Detroit. The two best teams in the Central Division will tangle Tuesday at 6:30 at Joe Louis Arena -- and again on Thursday at noon at Wrigley Field in the overhyped Winter Classic.

The Hawks (20-6-7) currently trail the Red Wings (23-7-5) by four points, but they have two games in hand. An opportunity to make up some ground awaits.

While the locals here are disappointed in the demise of the Bears, I prefer to look on the bright side.

Namely, January weekends will be void of Cowboys and Patriots this year. Both teams were eliminated from playoff contention Sunday.

I'm sick and tired of seeing the Cowboys on national TV every week. I just stop watching after awhile. I don't care about their "elite talent." They are just a 9-7 team that can't stop bickering amongst themselves.

I don't know what ESPN's Ed Werder is going to do now that he doesn't have the Terrell Owens and Tony Romo saga to cover each day. Personally, I won't miss those reports at all.

And BTW, Rex Grossman still has two more career wins in the playoffs than Romo. Grossman has two, and Romo has none.

Good riddance to the Patriots, too. Bill Belichick can be a genius some other year. I'll enjoy the peace of Boston-free playoffs, for what little I'll watch of them.

It's hockey and college basketball season now.

In case you've been in a coma for the last 24 hours, you know by now that the Bears season ended Sunday with a whimper, a 31-24 loss to the mediocre-at-best Houston Texans.

I'm not too bummed out about the Bears missing the playoffs because, frankly, they are not a very good team. If the season hadn't ended this week, it would have ended next week or the week after. This group wasn't going to get anywhere near the Super Bowl.

I'll tell you what does concern me: It doesn't seem like the Bears realize they stink. Their defense is terrible, as shown by the 455 yards the Texans gained on Sunday. It was the fourth time this season the Bears surrendered more than 400 yards in a game.

I know Mike Brown missed Sunday's game with a calf injury, but there are no excuses for this defense. The Bears have the second-highest paid defense in the league, trailing only the Baltimore Ravens. The defense is supposed to be this team's dominant unit.

Instead, it ranks 21st in the league. Second in salary, 21st in team defense. At least the highly-paid Ravens are ranked second in the league, behind the Pittsburgh Steelers. At least the highly-paid Ravens are going to the playoffs.

The Bears?

"When you're 9-7, you're close," quoth Lovie Smith, The Great Enabler. "You don't need any overhaul."

You're full of beans, Lovie. Either that, or you're just not watching. When the Bears were trailing 24-17 with nine minutes left Sunday, they needed their defense to make a quick stand and get the ball back for the offense.

Instead, the Texans drove 89 yards for a touchdown in six minutes, making it a two-score game and draining the clock. The key play? A 47-yard run by Steve Slaton that saw alleged Alpha Bear Brian Urlacher get knocked flat on his ass.

Urlacher's play has declined severely this season. Cornerback Charles Tillman, the alleged best player in the Bears secondary, got torched by Houston wide receiver Andre Johnson (10 catches, 148 yards, 2 TDs). Brown is hurt. Again. Injuries have taken their toll on Tommie Harris, who is not the same player he was two years ago. Nathan Vasher isn't "The Interceptor" anymore. He's just another guy who can't stay on the field. Does Adewale Ogunleye still exist? We only know he does because we see the picture of him above. He made no impact on the field.

Yes, this defense needs an overhaul. Chicago fans will no doubt blame Kyle Orton for this mess. After all, bitching about mediocre or subpar QB play is a tradition in the city. But if you take Orton off this team and replace him with Donovan McNabb, this is still not a playoff team. Orton didn't give up 455 yards yesterday.

This defense is terrible. The proof is in the pudding. Can't Lovie Smith see that?

For the ninth consecutive year, Illinois has beaten Missouri. The border war game is always played the week of Christmas, so this makes nine consecutive Merry Christmases for Illini fans.

Illinois won Tuesday night's game 75-59. It really wasn't that close. The Illini jumped out to a 20-9 lead and led 40-22 at halftime. Missouri never got within single digits the entire second half.

Without scoring a point, I thought Chester Frazier (left) had one of his best games as an Illini. In 35 minutes, he had eight assists, six rebounds, three steals and only two turnovers despite being grabbed and slapped at by overzealous Missouri defenders all game long.

Frankly, I'm not sure how Missouri is ranked No. 25 in the country. Defensively, the Tigers strategy seemed to be, "Send two or three guys at the kid with the ball and mug him." Missouri is very poor fundamentally on defense. The Tigers gamble constantly, overplaying everything to their own detriment.

Such a strategy works against bad teams. Against teams with good experienced guards -- guards who don't dribble into trouble, guards who move the ball quickly and smartly -- Missouri loses. Illinois shot a high percentage Tuesday night because it got plenty of easy layups, making Mizzou defenders pay for being out of position.

When the Illini didn't get layups, they got open perimeter looks. Both Trent Meacham (23 points) and Demetri McCamey (20 points) had good shooting nights.

That's the recipe for a blowout. Easy win for the Illini, who are now 11-1. Let's see if they can continue to play well as Big Ten conference play begins next week.

The Bears pulled one out last night, beating the Green Bay Packers 20-17 in overtime. Improbably, their hopes for an NFC playoff spot are still alive.

Last week, nothing went right for the Bears. Every team they needed to lose won. This week, the polar opposite happened.

First Dallas choked. Then Tampa Bay choked. And the Vikings choked. Then Philadelphia choked. And Starks choked. And then Mason choked. Hold on a minute! I think the Vikings just fumbled again!

It was just perfect. And the Bears almost fouled it up by playing totally uninspired football through the first three quarters last night. But a late touchdown by Matt Forte, a blocked field goal by Alex Brown, a fortunate overtime coin toss and a field goal by Robbie Gould saved the day.

It's no secret that I'm not impressed by this Bears team. I don't think they are that good. Then again, I don't think Minnesota, Dallas, Tampa Bay or Philadelphia are all that good either. Each of those four teams lost critical games over the weekend. Unlike their competitors, the Bears found a way to win an important late-season game. They deserve credit for that.

The odds are still against the Bears. If they are to win the NFC North, they must beat Houston next week and hope Minnesota loses to the New York Giants. If they are to win the wild card, they must beat Houston and hope Dallas loses to Philadelphia AND hope Tampa Bay loses to Oakland.

It doesn't seem likely the Bears will make the playoffs, but as I said last week, I will not say 'done' until it is mathematically so. Anything can happen in the NFL.

It really is a shame the Blackhawks have five consecutive nights off. With the way these guys are playing, I wish I could watch them every night.

The Hawks completed a three-game swing through Western Canada with a 3-1 victory over the Vancouver Canucks on Saturday. On the trip, the Hawks also won games in Edmonton (9-2) and Calgary (3-2 in overtime). Those are three difficult places to win, but the Hawks pulled through.

Overall, they have won seven consecutive games. The last time the Hawks had a streak like this, I was four years old. That was in January of 1981, when they won eight in a row. The franchise record for consecutive wins is eight, which has been done twice (December of 1971 and January of 1981). The current Blackhawks will seek to equal that record Friday night when they host Philadelphia.

The Hawks now stand at 18-6-7. They have the third highest point total in the Western Conference (43), and they are five points behind the Red Wings with a game in hand in the Central Division standings.

Beacon News page designer Shawn Harvey passed away at his home Friday morning after a 13-month-long battle with cancer. It is a sad day for everyone who works here.

Shawn (seen at left with his daughter, Martha) was a versatile and valuable member of our staff. He worked the same hours I do, nights and weekends, and he was instrumental in producing a lot of quality sports sections during his tenure here.

Shawn was a knowledgeable baseball guy. He was a fan of both the Cubs and the Minnesota Twins. I, of course, am a White Sox fan, but I always enjoyed discussing the sport with him, despite our differing allegiances.

He was also the commissioner of The Beacon News Fantasy Baseball League, a league he dominated ruthlessly throughout the 2008 season. (I finished in second place behind him this year, but I promise I'm not bitter.)

Shawn was well-liked and respected by everyone here at The Beacon News.

Our prayers go out to his wife, Judy, and his two young children, Martha and Joseph.

RIP, Shawn. We will miss you both personally and professionally.

Do you remember the Nike commercials that ran in the mid-1990s? They featured the "next wave" of NBA stars in the post-Jordan era.

The viewer was shown images of such players as Jason Kidd, Jim Jackson, Kevin Garnett, Eddie Jones and Joe Smith.

"THE REVOLUTION WILL BE LED BY JASON KIDD!!!!! THE REVOLUTION WILL NOT BE TELEVISED!!!!" boomed the announcer.

I got to thinking about that commercial because I've seen some other things recently that absolutely should not be televised. Take, for example, Wednesday night's basketball game between Duke and national powerhouse UNC-Asheville.

The Dukies won that game 99-56. Did a national television audience really need to see that tilt? Was there any reason at all to believe it would be competitive? Of course not. ESPN just wanted to run another two-hour infomercial on how much they love Duke basketball.

At my apartment, the television was tuned to an hour-long Christmas special featuring the Muppets (left). It was cheesy and cliched, but hey, it beats watching Duke basketball. I like Fozzy Bear much more than I like Kyle Singler.

I see that North Carolina is on national TV tonight, too. Again. The other day, ESPN treated us to a Tar Heels' rout over mighty Oral Roberts. This evening, viewers are graced by a North Carolina romp over Evansville. Why is this garbage on TV? This is not competitive basketball.

I assume ESPN wanted to show these games in order to capture the "emotional moment" where Tyler Hansbrough broke Phil Ford's all-time UNC scoring record. I guess we are all supposed to care about that. Guess what? I don't.

Everyone in this sports department is indifferent to Hansbrough's performance. None of us went to UNC and none of us care.

Tonight's telecast is just another infomercial in a season-long ESPN campaign to get Hansbrough named National Player of the Year. To hell with that. I'd rather watch the Muppets.

After all, Kermit T. Frog is a hero to journalists everywhere. He was right on the scene when Rapunzel let down her hair. That's an example we can all follow.

This gets my vote for bizarre story of the day.

I've been complaining about this for years.

SI's Peter King agrees. Check out point 'f' in this column.

Stop saying 'football' all the time!

The weather here is very bad today, as you can see at left. My usual 25-minute commute turned into 90 minutes this afternoon.

Unfortunately, we do not get snow days in the newspaper business. I'm behind schedule and need to haul ass to get the Wednesday sports section out the door tonight.

Thus, there will be no witty blogs or hard-hitting analysis posted here this evening. (Not that there ever is.)

For those wondering, Rosary and Yorkville are still playing basketball tonight. I think they're nuts. We'll have a story in tomorrow's paper, provided our photographer doesn't get engulfed by drifts on the way home.

Other than that, no local coverage in tomorrow's paper, unless you really like week-old junior high results. LOL. Drive safe everyone.

Bears coach Lovie Smith has made a point of saying his team still has a chance of finishing 10-6 -- and that 10-6 teams usually qualify for the postseason.

True, 10-6 gets it done most years. Unfortunately for the Bears, this isn't one of those seasons. Without even stepping on the field Sunday, the Bears (8-6) playoff hopes took some serious body blows. Washington (7-7) played its way out of contention with a preposterous loss to Cincinnati. But every other game important to the Bears went the opposite way it needed to: Minnesota (9-5) beat Arizona, Atlanta (9-5) beat Tampa Bay (9-5) and Dallas (9-5) beat the New York Giants. Another contender, Philadelphia (7-5-1) hosts Cleveland tonight.

The biggest issue for the Bears is the fact that they do not own the tiebreakers against any of the four teams that are 9-5. In effect, each of those four teams owns a two-game lead over the Bears with two games to play.

To win the division, the Bears would have to win out and have the Vikings lose their final two games. The Bears could earn a wild-card spot if they win out, the Eagles lose one more time and two among the group of Atlanta, Tampa Bay or Dallas take the pipe and blow their final two games.

Let's review the remaining schedules for the contenders:

Bears: Green Bay, at Houston
Vikings: Atlanta, N.Y. Giants
Falcons: at Minnesota, St. Louis
Buccaneers: San Diego, Oakland
Cowboys: Baltimore, at Philadelphia
Eagles: Cleveland, at Washington, Dallas

Among the group the Bears need to lose, it is possible Dallas will lose out. Baltimore and Philadelphia are both tough opponents. But even if the Cowboys falter, someone else would have to choke twice to clear the way for the Bears.

It is unlikely the Vikings will drop their last two at home.

The Falcons might lose at Minnesota, but I can't see them falling at home to the Rams.

Tampa Bay has two home games against losing teams, including the miserable Oakland Raiders.

I'd say the Bears are in serious trouble, even if they get to 10-6. But strange things happen sometimes, so I will not say they are done until it is mathematically so.

Just in case you needed any more proof that it is, in fact, about the money, left-hander C.C. Sabathia agreed Wednesday to sign the richest contract for a pitcher in baseball history.

The New York Yankees will give Sabathia $161 million over seven years. As we all know, C.C. stands for "Captain Cheeseburger." With that kind of dough, he can buy the company that makes the cheeseburgers.

But back to my point about it being about the money: For months, we've been hearing about how Sabathia liked the relative obscurity of Milwaukee. Hey, he might stay with the Brewers!!!!

Uh, no.

For months, we've been hearing about how Sabathia likes the West Coast, where he grew up. Hey, he might sign with the Dodgers or the Giants!!!!

Uh, no.

For months, we've been hearing about how Sabathia loves to swing the bat. Hey, there's no doubt he's staying in the National League!!!!!

How about, uh, no.

Instead, Sabathia took the best financial offer. And, of course, the Yankees have the money. That's how it works in baseball.

Too often, fans think all these intangible things are important to players. Most often, that's not the case. Sure, you can point to a few exceptions. But the reality is most top free agents go for the top dollars.

Can't say I blame Sabathia. If someone offers you the world, what are you supposed to do? Say no?

In today's edition of the Sun-Times, Sox beat writer Joe Cowley is babbling on and on about how Jermaine Dye is going to be traded. He also basically says that Sox fans who don't like it can stick it where the sun don't shine.

Of course, that's all just bluster. Who knows whether the former World Series MVP will actually be traded? Here's what really interesting about the article: It speculates that the guy on the left will be returning to the South Side.

That would be Freddy Garcia, who earned the victory in the clinching game of 2005 World Series and had a 17-win season for the Sox in 2006. Since then, Garcia has pitched for Philadelphia and Detroit, but he's spent most of his time on the disabled list with shoulder injuries.

No one can be certain whether Garcia will ever be healthy enough to pitch effectively over a 162-game season. But the Sox do have a need at the back of the rotation after the trade of Javier Vazquez. They could use a veteran.

Is Garcia that guy? I doubt it. I wouldn't give him anything more than a minor-league deal with a promise that he'd get a long look in spring training. Chances are, Garcia would want something guaranteed. If that's the case, it's hard to see the Sox and Garcia being a match, despite the strong friendship between the right-hander and manager Ozzie Guillen.

Ah, the never-ending saga continues. Former Cubs third baseman and current radio broadcaster Ron Santo was once again denied election to baseball's Hall of Fame Monday.

None of the 10 finalists on the post-1942 ballot received the required 75 percent of the vote from the Veterans Committee. Santo was the leading vote-getter, but his name appeared on only 60 percent of the ballots.

Personally, I can't say I care one way or another whether Santo ever gets elected to the Hall. I met Santo once, in 2002 at a Sherwin Williams store in Sterling. At the time, I was a sportswriter for the Sterling Gazette, and I was assigned to interview the Cubs legend. He was nice enough to me. In fact, the store manager was far less patient than Santo. The manager was trying to shoo me out of the way, so that Santo could get to the in-store autograph session that was scheduled for that day.

But I digress.

I could actually make a pretty good case that Santo belongs in the Hall. He probably deserves it, as a matter of fact. But here's the problem: He keeps openly campaigning for it, and he keeps rubbing people the wrong way with his bitterness over being excluded. Earlier today, I read that Santo referred to the voting process as "ridiculous."

Maybe it is ridiculous, but you don't say those kinds of things if you want to be elected. Also, the former players who make up the Veterans Committee probably remember the jackass way Santo would click his heels after a Cubbie victory back in the day. I can't imagine opposing players liking that too much.

I have to admit, I enjoy listening to Cubs fans scream bloody murder over the poor treatment of ol' Ronnie. The boo-hooing is actually quite humorous. Not quite as humorous as the boo-hooing after yet another playoff series choke, but humorous nonetheless.

Even though I tend to agree with the Cubs fans that Santo belongs in the Hall, I get a kick out of their self-righteous rage at his continuing exclusion.

Keep Ronnie out of the Hall for all I care. This saga is actually entertaining.

I've stated before on this blog that this year's Illinois basketball team needs sophomore point guard Demetri McCamey to be its best player. The past two games have been a perfect illustration.

Take, for example, Tuesday's 76-74 loss to Clemson. The Illini bungled the final 10 seconds of the game hopelessly, and it was McCamey's fault.

Down two, the Illini had a great opportunity to tie or win on their last possession. Instead, McCamey lolligagged the ball up the court, dribbled off precious seconds, missed a wide-open Trent Meacham on the left wing and passed a grenade to Chester Frazier, who failed to get a shot off before time expired.

A play for Meacham was signaled in from the bench. Meacham came off a screen open, poised to shoot a potential game-winning three. McCamey was in la-la land and never got him the ball. Illinois loses.

Fast forward to Saturday, when Illinois obliterated Georgia 76-42. McCamey was far and away the best player on the floor. There wasn't a close second.

He scored 13 points right off the bat, pacing Illinois to an early 21-8 lead it would never relinquish. He finished the game with 19 points and six assists. No Georgia guard could handle him man-to-man, which forced the Bulldogs to use a 1-3-1 zone for most of the game.

Even with Georgia in a zone, McCamey did a good job of attacking the gaps, breaking down the defense and creating opportunities for others. The two sophomore Illini bigs, Mike Davis and Mike Tisdale, both made seven of the 10 shots they took. Many of them were easy baskets, with Georgia overly concerned about McCamey.

The Illini are going to go as McCamey goes all year. It's a bit of a frightening proposition for coach Bruce Weber, who has rightfully griped about a lack of consistency from McCamey for over a year now.

Hopefully, this young point guard can start bringing his 'A' game close to every night. If he does, the Illini might be a surprise entrant into the NCAA tournament this year. If not, they'll be hearing chants of "N-I-T!" in February.

I was reminded this past week why I've lost interest in the NBA.

Actually, I'm not off to see the Wizard. But I am taking a short break to eat up some use-it-or-lose-it vacation time. I will return (and so will this blog) on December 7.

Nick Swisher is already gone. It looks like Javier Vazquez will be the next underachieving veteran dealt by White Sox general manager Kenny Williams.

Pending a physical, Vazquez is reportedly headed to Atlanta in exchange for pitcher Jo-Jo Reyes, infielder Brett Lillibridge and a player to be named later. The Sox are also expected to included left-handed reliever Boone Logan in this deal.

To me, this looks like an exchange of a bunch of players that had lousy 2008 seasons. Vazquez went a pedestrian 12-16 last year, but he punched his ticket out of town by pitching miserably in his last four outings, losing three critical regular-season games, plus Game 1 of the ALDS against the Tampa Bay Rays.

After a sterling first half, Logan went in the tank the second half and ended up getting sent to Charlotte in August. At one point, manager Ozzie Guillen questioned Logan's manhood. That's a sure sign a player is about to exit stage left.

The players the Sox are getting back didn't fare too well last year either. Reyes went 3-11 with a 5.81 ERA for the Braves. But he's only 24, and he's left-handed. Maybe he'll come around eventually. Lillibridge hit .220 in 90 games at triple-A Richmond.

The good news for the Sox is this deal clears out some salary space. Vazquez isn't worth the money he's making. Maybe those dollars can't be spent on somebody else.

I do wonder what the plan is for the starting rotation. Obviously, Mark Buehrle, Gavin Floyd and John Danks are in the fold. But what about the other two spots? Right now, it would be a competition between Reyes, Clayton Richard, Lance Broadway and Jeff Marquez, who was acquired from the Yankees in the Swisher deal. All are unproven.

I'd feel a little more comfortable if Williams acquires a veteran to be the No. 4 starter and allows all these kids to compete for the No. 5 spot.

Louisville basketball coach Rick Pitino posted an apology to fans after an embarrassing 14-point loss to mighty Western Kentucky.

Do you suppose Lovie Smith would ever apologize to Bears fans for the garbage we've had to put up with every Sunday for the last two years?

All Sox fans know GM Kenny Williams isn't going to sit still this offseason. Hell, he didn't sit still the offseason after the team won the World Series.

You can almost take it to the bank that a big move is coming. The question is, who will be on the move? The name that seems to keep coming up is Jermaine Dye.

I've been saying ever since the season ended that Williams will trade one of his right-handed power hitters this winter. With Carlos Quentin, Dye, Paul Konerko and Alexei Ramirez around, there is a surplus of right-handed thump.

And the Sox are obviously a little thin on starting pitching, with Jose Contreras hurt, Javier Vazquez irritating management with his failure in big games and younger guys like Clayton Richard and Lance Broadway totally unproven.

So, will the Sox trade Dye for pitching? The rumors point to a potential deal with Cincinnati. The Reds have a need for a right-handed bat to go along with lefties Jay Bruce and Joey Votto. Supposedly, Williams wants Cincinnati pitching prospect Homer Bailey.

A couple hangups I have about this: 1) If the Sox trade Dye, that leaves Quentin as the only established everyday outfielder on the major-league roster. Any deal involving Dye has to be a precursor to another move to acquire an outfielder.

2) What's so great about Homer Bailey? Big arm, no control, can't seem to stick in the Cincinnati rotation. Bailey was 0-6 in eight starts last season. He threw only 36 innings, walked 17 and gave up eight homers. Not real promising numbers. It isn't like Cincinnati had a rotation full of Cy Youngs standing in Bailey's way. They kept him in the minors because he sucked every time he got an opportunity.

Money would seem to be an object for the Reds. Dye is reasonably priced for his production, 34 HRs and 96 RBIs last year. He's due $11.5 million next year, with a $12 million option for 2010. Still, that might be a little pricey for the small-market Reds, and the Sox don't make a habit of eating money in trades.

The winter meetings start next week. No doubt, Williams will be active. I think it's almost a certainty a big-name player will be traded, whether that's Dye, Konerko or even Bobby Jenks. It will be interesting.

Former Blackhawks star Pit Martin, shown at left in this 1979 photo, crashed his snowmobile into an icy lake in Quebec.

Doesn't sound pleasant.