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#AskTCR: Injuries Suck

YOU HAVE QUESTIONS, WE HAVE ANSWERS. THOUGH NOT ALL ANSWERS MAY BE TO THE QUESTIONS YOU WERE ASKING.

By Mark Primiano
Joe Maiorana-USA TODAY Sports

Fun things that have happened since the last mailbag: we got pasted by Ohio State, RB Devin Church decided to transfer to Eastern Illinois, and Rayvonte Rice broke his hand and will now miss a lot of basketballing. What a week!

There are two ways to ask The Champaign Room your questions. You can tweet them at us on Twitter using the hashtag #AskTCR -- it just makes it easier to keep track -- or you can email them to us at mprimia2@gmail.com. And if you've got a personal question and you're worried about your privacy, just tell us. We'll change your name to Tom Crean when we publish it on the site. And remember, you can ask us ANYTHING. It doesn't have to be about Illinois or even sports.

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I don't really know how much pity I can muster up for you, as it really wasn't much better when I was there.

My four years of football: 2-10, 9-4, 5-7, 3-9. So yeah, I got to be there for that magical Rose Bowl out of nowhere year but every other season just plain sucked.

My four years of basketball: lost in the first round, didn't even make the NIT, lost in the first round, #1 overall NIT seed who had to travel to Stony Brook because of Cirque du Soleil.

I'd say I escaped with my sanity intact, but I live in Kansas and help manage this site so...

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Stinky Pete the Prospector. His name is Stinky Pete and he is voiced by Frasier. What more could you want?

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Jeremy Werner's interviews with Nathan Scheelhaase have been hinting that changes will be made within the defensive coaching staff. Which is good because as I've written about before, something has to give. The numbers have simply been too bad for too long now. Do I actually think they'll get rid of Banks? No, because I am a pessimist. But a change will be made.

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An email from Shane-

Oregon choosing to wear gray uniforms for the championship is super weird right?

If there was a milder version of Hell called Heck where people went to just generally be annoyed, what kind of things would you expect to happen there?

I think so. You're Oregon! Your colors are whatever shades of green and yellow you feel like using at that very moment! And you choose gray? Maybe they're playing mind games with Ohio State? Whatever their logic is, I'm a bit disappointed as I wanted uniforms so bright and garish that the retinas of those with weaker constitutions would burn.

Have you ever read Dante's Inferno? Whole lot of awful stuff going on down there in the Pit. People forced to wallow in their own feces, people turned into trees. It's a rather unpleasant place. So yeah, Heck strikes me as more of what purgatory is like in the movies Wristcutters. It's like normal life, just slightly worse. The sky isn't as blue, your apartment is smaller and your roommate is more annoying. Your job is a bit worse, but not completely intolerable. Heck would basically be like constantly being stuck operating on 3 when you want to be at 10.

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According to 24/7 Sports, the Illini are currently 9th in the Big Ten for the 2015 recruiting class rankings and only 3.22 points away from being 6th. A finish in the 6-8 range would be okay by me. It's not amazing by any means, but consistently being in the middle of the pack for recruits and not losing them all to attrition is a nice way to build up to something better. Something more sustainable at least.

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You might think I'm cheating because Pete's tweet doesn't have the hashtag in it. But I'm not, as he quickly realized his mistake and sent one saying nothing more than "sorry #AskTCR". We like to reward such politeness around here.

I'm not concerned about it. They'll have ushers filter people down from worse seats if it looks noticeably bad enough. Too much gets made about how empty football stadiums and basketball arenas being empty at times when students aren't in school, which is pretty weird. I understand why it happens, but it always felt kind of off that games even happen between semesters. Champaign is a lonely place in the winter and I wouldn't want to be there anymore than I had to be.

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Since I think we'll have a similar record, I'll got with either the Quick Lane Bowl or the Pinstripe Bowl. Indifferent as to which, if we're being honest. Salsa>>>>>>>queso. I made some damn fine salsa verde last night for enchiladas. I like variety and I feel like you can switch up salsas far more easily than quesos. Guac would be a close second.

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How much liquor do you have on you?

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I had us making it before the injury. Now? I'm not too sure. Our road games over the stretch he'll be gone are Nebraska, Northwestern, Minnesota, and Michigan State. So that's probably a split. If Rice comes back quickly and strong, we could still sneak in as a double digit seed. It's looking more like we'll be an NIT team again this year though.

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As someone who doesn't much care for St. Louis in general, I'm all for it. Honestly though, either the Rams or the Vikings moving to Los Angeles just makes the most sense for the NFL as a whole. It's insane that the biggest sports league in the country doesn't have a team in its second biggest city. If the Vikings go west, you shift the Rams to the North. If it's the Rams that go west, look how much more sensible the NFC West is: two teams in California, one in Washington, and one in Arizona. So much better for everyone. You know, except the people of St. Louis.

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Well it sure isn't you, that's for sure.

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Brad was traveling all day Tuesday and asked me something like half a dozen or so questions. With classes having started for me today, I sadly did not have time to answer all of them so I decided to go with my favorite. I would own a sun bear because it is small enough to semi-realistically manage and is downright adorable. Most of the rest of those would kill me and I am not a fan of that.

Follow The Champaign Room on Twitter at @Champaign_Room and Like us on Facebook. You can follow Mark Primiano on Twitter at @SBN_UGod.