First-year Eastern Illinois head coach Chris Wilkerson saw his potential quarterback of the future at the April 23 spring game. However, the aforementioned QB never suited up for the Panthers that warm and windy afternoon.

Jeff Undercuffler, the former University of Albany quarterback who announced he had entered the transfer portal Dec. 17, was present — along with three other potential transfers — at O’Brien Field in Charleston April 23 and tweeted this photo that day.

Just after midday on Tuesday, Undercuffler tweeted an image of a panther, which happens to be EIU’s mascot. Moreover, EIU offensive coordinator Joe Davis was Undercuffler’s OC at Albany, where Undercuffler passed for an FCS-high 41 TDs in 2019.

National FCS analyst Craig Haley confirmed Tuesday with Prairie State Pigskin that Undercuffler had committed to Eastern Illinois.

Haley also wrote that Undercuffler’s 41 TD passes in 2019 “were the most in subdivision history by a freshman (he was a redshirt freshman). He’s passed for 6,406 yards and 59 TDs in 31 career games.”

Wilkerson, a former EIU player and assistant coach under Panther legend Bob Spoo, was hired as his alma mater’s head coach in late January.

Undercuffler, listed at 6-foot-5 and 231 pounds by Albany, played in three games before being injured in 2021. He completed 62-of-113 passes for 556 yards in those games.

Undercuffler is a redshirt junior with two years of eligibility remaining. He is a native of Burlington, N.J. and prepped at Holy Cross Academy where competed in football, basketball and baseball.

Prior to adding Undercuffler, the Panthers listed four quarterbacks on their roster: transfers Ira Armstead II (Virginia) and Jonah O’Brien (Colorado State) along with redshirt freshman Zach Weir and incoming freshman Kevin Conway.

“We have told the quarterbacks all spring that nothing will be set in stone or in concrete as a result of just this spring. We’re working on trying to improve every single day,” Wilkerson told Prairie State Pigskin April 23 following the annual spring game.

Weir is the lone returnee to have thrown passes in games at EIU. The Grafton, Wisc. product completed 32-of-66 throws in 2021. He had one touchdown and was intercepted four times.

Interestingly, O’Brien has returned to EIU after a stint at Colorado State. O’Brien, a redshirt sophomore from Bartlett, began 2019 as the EIU scout team quarterback but played the final home game of the season against Southeast Missouri , completing 12-of-21 pass attempts for 84 yards and one interception.

Armstead II, a South Bend, Ind. native, is a dual-threat option. A former three-star recruit by ESPN.com and 247sports.com, the sophomore is listed at 6-foot-4 and 225 pounds.

Following the spring game, Wilkerson was asked what the next month would look like in regard to EIU’s roster.

“There are still some pieces that will potentially accentuate our roster, but the core group of our individuals, the nucleus of our ’22 football team, is assembled now,” Wilkerson said.

It appears Jeff Undercuffler is one of those accentuation pieces.

I admit it. I’m about as linguistically conservative as I am politically progressive. And that’s, in a word, Quite. A dictionary of descriptive bent has never even faintly bent a bookshelf of mine. Unabridged descriptive dictionaries, on the other hand, have threatened to swayback a shelf or two.

I’m particularly jolted by a sting of anguish and sent to muttering invectives when I witness linguistic transgressions issuing from the larynxes of far too manyfolks who speak the mother tongue for a living. Yes, I’m referring to the purveyors of information via broadcast media. Sometimes the peccadillo is a breach of a rule I learned in elementary school, but is currently on life support. Other times it’s a existing rule that’s being stretched, tortured or slaughtered.

You know what’s coming , don’t you? Of course you do. So without further doo-doo, I present–in no discernible order– the ineluctable List:

. The As/Like Confusion: My Von Humboldt-school teacher, Miss Prendergast, was adamantly precise about when to use “as” and when to use “like.’ The times my ears have been scalded by “like I said“, rather than “as I said”, are painfully countless.

. Usurping the Single With the Singularly Plural : The most blazing example of a plural disgracefully supplanting a singular–“criteria”, rather than “criterion“–comes in bulk quantities. A close second? “Data” as a singular. True story: Years ago, during a ad agency/client presentation, I cringed as I suffered through my media director (!) referring to television, radio and print as “mediums.” Seance to follow, I wondered?

. Interspersing the Unlikeable “Like”: Must we continue to so abundantly endure the word “like” irrationally flecking (and staining) pronouncements heard on the air? For the past forty years or so, few under forty seem unable to make any firm declaration.

. Overly Overturned Meanings: In more prosperous times for our idiom, following were words that had not yet been disfigured.

At one time, the word “perusal” meant glancing through, as distinguished from scrutinize. Today, you can take your pick. It seems to have morphed into meanings that blatantly oppose each other.

In the past, the word “disinterested” meant impartial as opposed to not interested. Today , the brazen clash has descended into puzzling acceptability. The definitions have seemingly been left to joust with each other for clarity.

Semantically speaking, the meaning of the word “oxymoron” shades toward intentionally contradictory figurative speech, such as, for instance, “loud silence.” It’s now been diluted to also refer to unintentional contradiction, such as the commonly noted “military intelligence” which should be simply defined as–you guessed it–contradiction.

Miss Prendergast was clear about the More/ Other distinction at the tail of verbal lists. Mournfully, her directive has been virtually demolished. Her now-ignored dictum: When listing multiple nouns with parallel identity, the word “others‘ must be used. Such as: “Performing tonight will be Beyonce, Lady Gaga, Mandy Patinkin, Tony Bennett and others.…. not and more! Sadly, in contemporary argot “and more” is used unfailingly and –according to my late English mentor–improperly. “And more‘ should be used only in disjointed lists, such as “featured at tonight festivities will be Beyonce, Lady Gaga, a delicious buffet, games, prizes and more“.

Somehow the word couple lost its way and moldered into also meaning fewor several. Since then, millions have become confused, disappointed and and vexed when “couple of hours” turned into half a day. Think about this. Have a strolling spousal pair every been described by onlookers as anything but a “married couple? No, not even if they were known bigamists,

The above category of oral atrocities leads seamlessly into a close cousin: Cognitive Dissonance. Hammered at us by those incessantly dull, cloyingly ubiquitous, unimaginably unimaginative Fisher Investment commercials is a cavalcade of actual Fisher counselors caviling against “cookie-cutter portfolios”. Trouble is, every Fisher script they parrot is, yes, identical; in other words, cookie cutter. Sump’n smells fishy at Fisher, eh?

That’s it. I’m done. I’m in need of some fresh, like, air.

Fancy Girl Lifestyle CEO’s Columbia Skye and Meadow Reign are set to host their very own Amazon Live series called “The Heath Dolls Pick Of The Week” That’s right, the girls are the youngest to grace the platform joining celebrities like Kelly Rowland, Iesha Curry, Kandi Burruss, Porsha Williams, Kenya Moore, and more.

Each week you can find the girls featuring their favorite Amazon finds in fashion, toys, beauty, books and more! You can also expect to learn lots more from the chatty girls who seem very candid about sharing just about anything that comes to their mind while shooting the show. On Episode 1 they told viewers their age and birthday and even shared details on a possible move to a new house! A new episode of the series airs live every Tuesday at 6pmcst.

To learn more about “The Heath Dolls Pick of the week” and to follow the series use the links below.

https://amazon.com/live/broadcast/d666f161-3bf0-44bd-850f-ae0f0a8de5df?tag=nellisaraglan-20&linkcode=ilv&ref_=social

Kyle Hendricks (Photo by Stephanie Lynn)

Cubs fans were finally gifted a day of good performance and good news on the injury front in regards to the starting rotation. With four MLB starting pitchers on the IL (Marcus Stroman, Wade Miley, Alec Mills, Adbert Alzolay) to start the week, a fifth (Justin Steele) leaving early in his previous start because of a finger issue, and the top MiLB signing (Steven Brault) yet to pitch this season, the outlook for the week looked decidedly bleak.

But then last night Kyle Hendricks delivered the best performance by a Cubs starter since I don’t when, and this came after news earlier in the day that Steele does not feel he will miss his next start, and Miley felt well enough in his bullpen session following his lone rehab outing that he will be able to take the ball tonight in San Diego. It doesn’t constitute a day for celebration or anything, but it should give fans a sigh of relief, as the club was nearing the brink of disaster.

I wouldn’t expect more than four innings out of Miley tonight. Yes, he did pitch that many in his start for Iowa last week, and I would expect him capable of increasing his pitch count, but he was extremely efficient in that game. In all likelihood Miley will require those additional pitches to achieve the same number of innings this time around. With Hendricks giving the pen a day off yesterday, they should be in a solid position to pick up the slack.

The Cubs did receive an injury scare from star right fielder Seiya Suzuki last night. He stepped awkwardly on 1st base while attempting to beat out a double play. Thankfully, Suzuki has reported his ankle is fine. Perhaps they give him a day off today as a precautionary measure, but it does not sound like an IL stint in imminent.

Big surprise, but the flight to and from Des Moines that Frank Schwindel took did not resolve his issues at the plate. Last season the big right handed hitter rarely missed fastballs in the zone, and rarely chased offspeed stuff out of the zone. He was not a perfect hitter, as he rarely walked and his power production was inconsistent, but it was hard to foresee a scenario where he would struggle this badly out of the gate. So far, he’s doing the exact opposite of what made him successful in 2021. Schwindel has been missing fastballs and expanding the zone throughout the first month.

The good news is that those issues are correctable. The guy clearly isn’t seeing the ball well right now and his timing on fastballs is off. If others in the lineup were picking up the slack Schwindel could potentially even work his way through things in the Majors, but with so many others scuffling it made sense to send him down and let him find his groove in Iowa.

I don’t see the logic in bringing him back up though. With Patrick Wisdom banged up a bit, Jonathan Villar clearly not having the coaching staff’s full trust on defense, and Michael Hermosillo scuffling at the plate all season and recently in the field as well, I thought this was the perfect time to call up Christopher Morel. He provides the versatility to fill in wherever needed while the team runs with a short bench during the road trip, and his energetic personality and play could just provide a spark while the club waits for Andrelton Simmons to return later this week.

To be clear he is 10x better than Villar at SS/3B/2B
He is better than anyone they have in CF.

May 9, 2022

Seriously. Just call him up.
If you are struggling offensively and need to play good defense and run a short bench for a week or two while injuries strike he is by far the best option. Really, their only option.

May 9, 2022

There are no easy answers for the predicament the Cubs currently find themselves in. The team is not as bad as it has played over the past couple of weeks, nor is it as competitive as the front office hoped when the season began. Part of that is due to the attrition in the starting rotation, but the slumps and/or regression by a number of players with limited track records was certainly a possibility, and the organization simply didn’t do enough to fortify the roster and provide viable alternatives in case this foreseeable scenario played out.

This was always going to be a season with another sell off at the trade deadline. At best this was a team that could scratch and claw its way to a near .500 record due in large part to playing in the worst division in baseball. But the last couple of weeks likely accelerates plans for the sell off. Willson Contreras will have his arbitration hearing in early June, and then the trade limitations on David Robertson and the rest of the sign-and-flip veterans the Cubs acquired this offseason lifts on June 15th. Once that occurs, the roster turnover will likely kick off a month earlier than anticipated.

First wave of promotions underway

With a few notable exceptions like Owen Caissie, the Cubs were fairly conservative with the assignments for prospects in the Minor League system to begin the season. I know it frustrated some fans, but in a season with a ton of in season turnover expected at the Major League level, the Cubs need to have a reserve of veterans stored up at the AAA level available to fill holes once the trade season in Chicago kicks off .

That collection of vets kept a handful of prospects down at the AA level who likely could have opened in Iowa and performed just fine, but I can’t say I disagree with the approach the Cubs took. With the short spring training and a number of guys still dealing with nagging injuries entering the start of the regular season, the Cubs bought themselves an extra month to evaluate the swath of new players they signed in a rush just prior to, or just after the lockout was lifted. They are now beginning to make decisions at the top of the system that will allow prospects to begin matriculating up the ladder throughout the rest of the season.

The team has identified a handful of veteran arms (Mark Leiter Jr., Robert Gsellman, Adrian Sampson, Conner Menez, Locke St. John) from the Iowa squad they already feel comfortable using to sop up innings in the Majors when needed, but are also not afraid to expose to waivers as the back of the 40-man roster expands and contracts with injuries. They’ve also begun letting go potential candidates who did not pitch well enough to secure such roles (Kevin McCarthy, Eric Yardley). Those subtractions already allowed Brandon Hughes to come up from Tennessee, and for Brendon Little to be activated from the IL. There is still a bit of a logjam in terms of position players in Iowa, but it didn’t stop the Cubs from already summoning Nelson Maldonado and Nelson Velazquez after they hit well their first month in Tennessee.

There is more to come. Perhaps as early as today. The Smokies have a handful of players ready to move up (Christopher Morel, Cam Sanders, Bryan Hudson), and a few more who should get the consideration after trades begin to thin out the MLB and AAA rosters (Darius Hill, Andy Weber, Javier Assad, Ryan Jensen, Blake Whitney, Eury Ramos).

Alexander Canario got the summons to AA yesterday. But he is probably the only position player we see come up from South Bend for a while. Yohendrick Piñango and eventually Cole Roederer could make a case, but not likely prior to midseason.

There are plenty of arms in South Bend who deserve a shot in Tennessee in the near future though. I’ve gotten word at least a couple will be joining Canario today, but still waiting on confirmation as to who it will be. I can make a case for any of Max Bain, Chris Clarke, Jordan Wicks, D.J. Herz, Nicholas Padilla, Jeremiah Estrada, or Joe Nahas. Only a few will go now, but I expect all to get to AA by midseason. At some point Jack Patterson, Ben Hecht, and Brailyn Marquez will return from the IL as well. In the second half, Daniel Palencia, Kohl Franklin, and a couple more relievers enter the discussion too. The Smokies should have plenty of arms to reinforce their roster throughout the year.

As for the Myrtle Beach to South Bend transit, Cole Roederer should be finishing up his rehab with the Pelicans and be ready to re-join South Bend any day now. Pete Crow-Armstrong probably has to wait behind Roederer, but it’s only a matter of time. On the mound, Richard Gallardo is probably the only starter under consideration during the first half of the season. But any number of relievers (Sheldon Reed, Jake Reindl, Walker Powell, Adam Laskey, Chase Watkins, Bryan King, and Luis Rodriguez) will move up as the season progresses.

Monday, September 8, 2008. That was the night The Rachel Maddow Show premiered on MSNBC. Almost fourteen years; more than 1,500 episodes. That’s a lot of television.

Beginning last Monday, Rachel won’t be doing nearly as much television as she has done for the previous fourteen years. Not even close. When her latest contract came up for renewal, she told NBC that she was more interested in working on special projects than in producing a daily television program. Her demand was to work a reduced schedule or she would walk away. The network said cool, fine by us, glad to have you stick around. We’ll even give you more money for less work. How does thirty million dollars a year sound? $30,000,000!!!!

DEAL!!!!!!

Desperate times call for desperate measures in the cable news biz. Ratings are down. MSNBC doesn’t have Donald Trump to kick around on a daily basis anymore…thank God. They lost Brian Williams to whatever he decides is his next big thing. MSNBC couldn’t afford to let their biggest star walk. Hence, $30M for fifty-two scheduled shows through 2024. My calculator says that breaks down to $576,923 per show. Nice work if you can get it.

My first thoughts were this was ridiculous. It wasn’t about the cash….Good for Rachel…more power to her and anyone who can negotiate such a deal. The one day a week thing was where I had my issue. In the news game there should be some continuity with the people who are presenting you information. When they break a new or interesting story, I want them there the next night to give you the follow-up….not a week later when it becomes old news that we most likely have already forgotten.

My feelings were what’s the point of being on the air for only one day? My news needs were going to be better off without only sixty minutes of TRMS each week. And that’s how this column would have read if I had written it last week after her first only Monday program. But, a guy is entitled to change his mind, right?

Maddow has such interesting takes on what is occurring in the world. Her program has a unique way of presenting them. Maybe the one day a week will keep her from being burned out from the daily news grind. Maybe the one day a week make her program appointment television. Hmmm…Rachel Maddow is the new Seinfeld?

So for now, I’m at least open to this once weekly Maddow thing. We’ll see how it goes. Maybe it works for everyone, maybe not. It’s just television, right.

See ya nexxt Monday, Rachel. Enjoy that extra, extra, extra long weekend.

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