Best Stories Published with The Daily Illini.
Baseball Beat Writer
Illini set to host Purdue, Michigan State in four-game series at Illinois Field (4/16/22):
In this COVID-shortened season, pods are only played on the weekends, allowing the Illinois baseball team to receive an ample amount of recovery time. The elimination of the midweek games lends the Illini four days for treatment, practice, scrimmages and off days. After three straight games over the weekend – sometimes four – the Illini receive Monday off to decompress.
“I’m a big believer in how you prepare is how you end up,” said sophomore shortstop Branden Comia. “Without the midweek, it gives you more time to work on something that was maybe lacking over the weekend, or if you want to try something new, it just gives you more time.” (READ THE FULL STORY.)
Illini snag two against No. 22 Michigan (5/2/22):
The Illini baseball team had to adapt quickly heading into this weekend’s pod play. Hours before play was set to begin, Northwestern pulled out due to health and safety concerns leaving the Illini to face No. 22 Michigan in a four game series spanning just two days.
Illinois came away splitting their final pod of the season 2-2 with No. 22 Michigan. (READ THE FULL STORY.)
Illini push through finals ahead of road series against Iowa (5/14/22):
With just three weekends left in the regular season, the Illini travel to Iowa City for a three-game series against the Hawkeyes. After snapping Maryland’s six-game winning streak, Illinois dropped the final two games of the series, placing them back under .500.
Iowa (21-14) sits fourth in the conference, while the Illini (16-18) drop one spot in the Big Ten rankings to eighth.
This week in particular poses an additional level of pressure to perform for the team in the virtual classroom. Amid finals week, baseball can be a release for the student athletes, but head coach Dan Hartleb says the pressure to perform well in exams can be distracting for some players. (READ THE FULL STORY.)
Assistant Features Editor
Buy Black Chambana helps close racial wealth gap (9/8/20):
America was once a nation where parts of the country thrived by putting the money they earned back into their own communities. Jewish and Orthodox churches after just immigrating to the U.S. valued empowering their own businesses by strictly buying everyday needs from businesses owned by the same minority group they affiliated with.
In the late 1800s, Frederick Douglass encouraged African-Americans across the country to tap into the way in which other ethnic and cultural groups prioritized the spending of their money.
His stance was that who you give your money to is who you give your power to. It has inspired customers to take their business to those who are like them.
Last summer Mariah Madison, recent graduate of Eastern Illinois University, decided to take some time off and moved to Champaign-Urbana. A native of Chicago, Madison didn’t know much about the Black community in the Central Illinois cities. After founding her own business, Nannyville LLC, Madison ventured out into the community to find more business owners like her. (READ THE FULL STORY.)
Kevin Bacon reflects on his role in summer blockbuster (6/26/20):
As the world adapts to a global pandemic, content creators such as filmmakers had to quickly decide whether their movies would premiere months behind schedule in a theater, or offer on-demand viewing. Over the past month, Universal Studios has offered two of its projected summer blockbusters for on-demand viewing.
With the premiere of his movie “You Should Have Left” releasing on demand on June 18, actor Kevin Bacon sat down for a virtual roundtable with college newspapers from across the country on June 17. (READ THE FULL STORY.)
Judd Apatow discusses ‘The King of Staten Island’ (6/10/20):
With the premiere of his movie “The King of Staten Island” approaching on June 12, releasing on demand, director and writer Judd Apatow sat down for a virtual roundtable with college newspapers from across the country on June 1.
“The King of Staten Island” stars Saturday Night Live talent Pete Davidson alongside Bill Burr and Marissa Tomei. Set in Davidson’s hometown of Staten Island, the movie follows Scott, Davidson’s character, around the forgotten borough exploring a deeply personal and darkly funny journey based on Davidson’s actual life. (READ THE FULL STORY.)