Northern Illinois senior defensive tackle Mike Krause is one of 121 semifinalists named this morning for the 2010 William V. Campbell Trophy -- formerly known as the Draddy Trophy -- by the National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame.

Members of the group are also candidates for the 2010 NFF National Scholar-Athlete Awards. The NFF Awards Committee will select up to 15 of the players for post-graduate scholarship awards.

Krause sat out last season after being diagnosed with a heart ailment but has returned to the starting lineup for coach Jerry Kill's team this fall. He has seven tackles, 1.5 of them for loss.

The semifinalists come from all divisions of play in college football. Krause is one of 47 selected from Football Bowl Subdivision programs.

Nominated by their schools, which are limited to one nominee each, semifinalists must be a senior or graduate student in their final year of eligibility, have a GPA of at least 3.2 on a 4.0 scale, have outstanding football ability as a first team player or significant contributor, and have demonstrated strong leadership and citizenship. The trophy was renamed last fall in honor of Bill Campbell, the chairman of Intuit, former player and head coach at Columbia University and the 2004 recipient of the NFF's Gold Medal.

Welcome back.

Junior linebacker Pat Schiller of Geneva returns to the practice field today for the Northern Illinois football team. Schiller started 13 games last season and was the Huskies' third leading tackler but he missed spring ball and preseason camp after having knee surgery to repair a torn anterior cruciate ligament.

"He will practice today, full tilt," coach Jerry Kill said at his weekly press conference. "How much he's able to play is hard to say, he hasn't hit anybody. He's worked at conditioning but that's not football conditioning."

Based on recent history, there is every reason to be a little bewildered by the fact that the Sandwich Indians are 5-0 following their huge 32-7 victory over Coal City Friday night. I talked with head coach Derek Avery about some of these things to help give a little insight into this start.

Here are some things you need to know regarding the Indians, who I believe are one of the best 4A teams in the area and - if healthy (more on that later) - can make a run at Champaign.

A long road
While on the surface it may seem to be out of nowhere, but in reality the Indians have been building toward this season over the last two.

This year's seniors were 9-0 as sophomores and this year's juniors went 8-1 as soph's.
There were also three sophomores that played on the varsity in 2008 and went 6-4.
Count last year's 5-4 record and this group of seniors and juniors were a combined 28-9 heading into this year. (Got it?)
They are now 33-9.

Said Avery: "We knew we had a chance to be pretty good this year because of that, but we've also had some underclass teams do very well too and then get to the varsity level and we've gone 5-4 or 4-5. We did know we had some good athletes coming up in these two classes."

Big boys = big holes
The Indians run the double wing (or Wing T) on offense and in order for that to work, the offensive line needs to be not just effective, but dominant.
Here are the starters for the Indians.
C: Troy Reddoch (5-10, 180, Sr.)
G: Matt Chalfin (6-0, 175, Sr.)
G: Logan Lee (6-2, 240, So.)
T: Sam Caldwell (6-3, 270, Sr.)
T: Colton Mueller (6-4, 285, Sr.)
TE: Nolan Gipe (6-1, 185, Sr.)

Wow.

Sophomore studs
You can see that Lee is a sophomore and the Indians called up fellow soph Seth Mcdonald (6-0, 180) to play linebacker when senior Sam Hill tore a knee ligament in the preseason.
McDonald has become a big factor on defense and and Lee is a road grader.
said Avery: "They've been a big surprise for us this year. We knew they were good players, but when you bring them up to the varsity level and you put them out there, you don't know really how they'll respond."

"(McDonald) has taken advantage of the opportunity and has played very well for us. And Logan has been outstanding on the offensive line."

Classmates Dakota Padilla, Spencer Keene and Mike Bewley are also on the varsity roster for added depth.

This team is resilient
Sandwich dominated Coal City despite the fact that RB P.J. Crotty, DB Mitch Brummel, DB Trent Weber and McDonald were all sick during the week. Then remember t hat FB/DT Tim Schmitt has been out with an injury since Week 2 and Hill was supposed to start at wing back and linebacker.
Backup - and now starting - RB Connor Voss is also dealing with nagging back pain and now Lee will miss some time.
Yet, this team has proven deep enough to overcome those injuries and keep winning. But, this is the black cloud hanging over the team - programs can only take so many injuries before it finally takes a toll on the scoreboard.

This team can play defense
Coal City has just seven first downs and were held to just one first down in the first, third and fourth quarters on Friday night. As a team, the Indians are allowing just 10.8 points per game and making teams work for every yard - not just points.

Said Avery: "We felt our defense has been pretty solid all year long and has really set us up with good field position. Other than the one drive in the second quarter there (against Coal City) defensively we played very well."

I've seen 7 of our area teams play here in the first 5 weeks and the Indians are no question one of the best squads in the area - so this start is no longer a surprise - the only question is now is how high a seed they can get in the playoffs.

Well - it is ESPN so they had to work in Brett Favre somehow into tonight's Bears-Packers game...even though he hasn't played in GB for several years now. And, of course, it was the tried-and-true graphic of the Bears running out 22 different QBs during all of Favre's seasons in Green Bay.
The tie to tonight? It was the anniversary of the great one's first ever start in the NFL.
Lame. And very, very tired.

Remember when the Chicago Bulls could have had Kobe Bryant?
Remember when the Bulls (and their fans) didn't to part with Luol Deng?
repeat. Luol. Deng.
Yeah, that was a good decision.

So here we are, again. The Chicago Bulls could have Carmelo Anthony.
But the Bulls (and their fans) don't want to part with Joakim Noah.
repeat. Joakim. Noah.

And Bulls fans wonder why the team hasn't done jack sh#! since 1998. It's decisions and loyalties like this.
So when this trade doesn't happen and Noah is missing 20 games with more foot problems while 'Melo is dropping 28 a game for the Nets - remember that this is what you wanted.

Northern Illinois University football coach Jerry Kill was in attendance Friday at Huskie Stadium for his team's walk-through practice and traveled with the team to Champaign for Saturday's game at Illinois.

The spokesman did not know if Kill would be on the sidelines or in the press box for the 11 a.m. contest after spending most of the week hospitalized for dehyrdration.

hockey goaltenders are great.

NIU football coach Jerry Kill has been released from Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago.

The school announced Friday morning Kill had returned home late Thursday evening. His plans for the game at Illinois will be made available later today.

On Wednesday, defensive coordinator Tracy Claeys repeated that he would be shocked if Kill wasn't at the game but didn't know if he would be on the sideline or in the press box. He said that during a phone conversation that afternoon, Kill had been making suggestions for the team's game plan.

Absolutely gangsta.

The undefeated Northern Illinois University volleyball team (11-0) plays host to undefeated Wisconsin (9-0) Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. at the NIU Convocation Center.

The Huskies swept Stetson Saturday to win the Elon Classic in Elon, N.C. Junior setter Kristin Hoffman of Batavia (94 assists for the tourney) was named MVP of the tournament. Freshman sensation Lauren Wicinski of Geneva led the Huskies in points (44), kills (38), digs (22) and aces (5) and earned all-tourney honors for her third straight tournament.

Wisconsin is coached by Pete Waite, who coached at Northern for 10 years (1988-98) and is the all-time winningest coach in school history with 266 victories. He also led the team to four appearances in the NCAA Tournament.

DEKALB -- Northern Illinois football coach Jerry Kill was transferred to Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago Monday morning "to confer with his personal physician and continue to be evaluated," a school spokesman said.

NIU Media Relations Director Donna Turner confirmed that the third-year coach was admitted to Kishwaukee Community Hospital in DeKalb early Sunday morning, suffering from dehydration. It was several hours after he coached his team to a 23-17 victory over North Dakota in their home opener.

The Huskies are scheduled to travel to Champaign and play Illinois at 11 a.m. on Saturday.

The previous week, Kill missed three days of practice after having minor surgery on Sept. 3rd, the day after his team's season-opening loss at Iowa State. He returned to practice the following Monday and told the local media about the surgery at his weekly press conference on Tuesday. He would not disclose the nature of the procedure, but did say it was not cancer related.

Kill had surgery and treatment for kidney cancer in 2005 and has been in remission since.

Huskie defensive coordinator Tracy Claeys filled in for Kill Monday morning for the second straight week on the Mid-American Conference football coaches teleconference with the media.

"He's under observation and doing some tests," said Claeys, who was not sure when Kill would return to work.

"Nothing will change. We'll keep moving on. Our staff is one that's highly structured (with everyone having well-defined responsibilities). As long as you take care of your job, we're fine. We'd love to have him back (for this week's game at Illinois). If not, we'll be ready."

There is a lot of surface level concern about the White Sox going forward regarding their roster and payroll.

Well, best I can tell, the Sox will have just under $31 million coming off the payroll (not including what's left of Manny Ramirez's contract - I'm talking about full season players on the roster) after the last out is made this year.

Bobby Jenks is not a free agent. Jenks, who makes $7.5 million this year is in the last year of arbitration, so he'll be in line for a huge raise. The popular speculation is the Sox will not offer him arbitration - but is that a certainty? We'll see. So right now, Jenks doesn't count toward that $45 million total.

Here are the players who are FA's - Paul Konerko ($12 mil); AJ Pierzynski ($6.1), J.J. Putz ($3), Mark Kotsay ($1.5), Omar Vizquel ($1.38), Freddy Garcia ($1.25), Ramon Castro ($1 - team option for 2011), Andruw Jones ($500K).

Matt Thornton's original contract runs out after this year, but the Sox will pick up his $3 million team option for 2011.
I also expect them to keep Castro, if they decide to part ways with Pierzynski.

The reason behind letting Jenks go is a hefty contract and a closer-in-waiting in Thornton, but why let valuable bullpen arms go for nothing? I wouldn't - especially if Putz lines up a big deal elsewhere.

The Buehrle situation is what is most interesting to me - do you re-sign him or Konerko? I think you sign Buehrle to no more than 3 year deal with an eye toward him being your fifth starter. Unfortunately, you'll have to pay him more than that would be worth.

Looking ahead, Juan Pierre ($8.8) and Scott Linebrink ($4.75) come off the books after the 2011 season. Which is good.
Not so good is that so do Alexei Ramirez ($1.2) and the Scott Boras-represented Edwin Jackson ($6.27) - and both will command hefty raises for many years.

Good think Mark Teahan is locked up through 2012.

Freshman Lauren Wicinski of Geneva has been the catalyst for the best start in program history for the Northern Illinois University women's volleyball team.

The 6-foot-1 outside hitter was named tournament MVP this past weekend as the Huskies climbed to 8-0 to start the season and won the UIC Invitational in Chicago.

"To be 8-0 at this point is a very positive thing for our group," said ninth-year head coach Ray Gooden. "It helps us put our name in a special place in a program that has a lot of history and pride."

The NIU program became Division I in 1970.

It was the second straight tournament win for Northern, which won its own tourney the week before as Wicinski made the all-tournament team and earned Mid-American Conference West Player of the Week honors.

It's the program's longest winning streak since 2001 (18 matches). Wicinski led the Huskies Saturday with her second double-double of the day in the title match win over the host Flames. She had a team-high four aces and 21 kills on 36 swings for a .472 hitting percentage along with 10 digs in NIU's 3-0 win.

Earlier in the day, Northern defeated Memphis 3-0.

In three wins in Chicago, Wicinski hit .464 with 49 kills on 84 attacks, while also totaling 10 aces and 30 digs. She led the team in each of those categories, except hitting percentage, which was claimed by freshman Sarah Angelos of Waukegan, who hit .556 with 22 kills on 36 attempts.

"I thought Lauren had a real nice and complete weekend," Gooden said. "She made some improvements with her passing and defense over the weekend."

Joining Wicinski on the all-tournament team was senior libero Maddie Hughes of St. Charles North. The 2009 MAC Defensive Player of the Year gathered a team second-best 25 digs and seven aces in the three victories.

if you've been following the Daily Dose, you know I love to find Chicago sports references in odd places - mainly TV shows and movies. But every now and then a Chicago team is repped in real life odd places...
like this one...

It's Ashton Kutcher with S-N-double-O-P...but I can't tell which hat I like better, to be honest.

courtesy of our former editor, Todd M. Adams.
this video is hilarious on a variety of levels.
1. what was the RB thinking when he got the pitch?
2. what was he thinking when he first turned around and began running back toward his own goal?
and 3. at what point did he forget where he was and think he was going to score? Because we can clearly see the point when he remembered what was happening (or about to happen) and toss it into the air.
Good stuff.

I think so.
Gotta love Joakim Noah's playing partner rocking the Chicago Blackhawks Stanley Cup champions hat at the Bulls' charity outing.