Should Football Be In the Olympics?

A hot debate has emerged through the years about whether or not American Football should be played in the Olympics. A common myth about American Football is that it is only played in America. Jordan Vandiver explains that the International Federation of American Football has 45 member associations and that Japan has 60 teams by itself. So the game is obviously played outside of the U.S., so why not have it in the Olympics? I understand that at first the USA team would be extremely dominant, but I also believe it would kickstart international interest in the game. Right now, soccer is the most popular sport in the world, hands down. But if football is so popular in America, why wouldn't it be popular around the world? I think having American Football in the Olympics would be a good idea not only in the interest of the Olympics but the sport itself. I could see it being slow at first, but given time I think football could easily become a great success for the Olympics and maybe even surpass soccer as being the most popular sport worldwide. It's the greatest sport in the world; how could anyone not like it?

Is Juice to blame for the Illini struggles?

Senior quarterback Juice Williams has been leading the Illinois Fighting Illini since his freshmen year. With 38 consecutive starts, he is the Big Ten's most experienced quarterback and as of Saturday, is Illinois' career total offense leader. But Juice hasn't exactly "poured" on opponents this year. He is currently ranked dead last in the league in pass efficiency with 4 interceptions and only 1 touchdown; and Illinois' record matches his struggles at 1-3. Head coach Ron Zook announced Monday morning that Juice will be on clipboard duty this week as junior Eddie McGee gets the start against Big 10 rival Michigan State Spartans, but will this switch answer Zook's prayers?

The change could give a much needed spark to a struggling Illini offense. McGee has been in the program for a long time and knows the offense as well as anyone. He lead Illinois to its only victory of the season against Illinois State after Williams went down with an injury early in the game. McGee, although much less flashy, has proved himself as a quarterback. I think he will do fine, but Illinois is going to have to do a whole lot more than mix up quarterbacks to beat the Spartans. Coming off a huge overtime win against in-state rival Michigan, the Spartans have a whole lot of momentum coming into this weeks game. The Spartans don't have the best record (2-3,1-1), but have yet to be beaten badly. They've lost all three games by a total of 13 points. I think Michigan State will come out the victor in this Big 10 battle.