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Central Illinois Gazette

A trash-talking Gov. Pat Quinn

Posted by: Tom Kacich

Wednesday, March 25, 2009 7:54 AM

Politics and government weren't the only things discussed during Gov. Pat Quinn's one-hour visit to Savoy on Tuesday. There was also a lot of sports talk.

Quinn paid tribute to the Champaign Centennial Chargers, who won the 3A state basketball title last Saturday in Peoria. "I think all of Illinois is proud of Champaign Centennial," Quinn said, also noting that his COO, Jack Lavin, is the brother of Centennial coach Tim Lavin.

Quinn also said that his NCAA tournament bracket was a disaster because, he claimed, he had Illinois taking the championship.

"I was counting on the U of I to go pretty far. My picks aren't doing very well because I had the U of I winning it all.

"But the Illini, I think, had a good season. Really. I think we should take our hat off to the team and the coach and the fans who support the team. You know there's always next year."

Then Quinn went too far ...

"That's obviously something that's going to be said shortly with the Chicago Cubs getting ready for a new baseball season," said Quinn. "Any team can have a bad two centuries."

The crowd erupted in laughter.

"I'm a White Sox fan but we all need to come together and be an Illinois fan club. No matter what team you're for, the Cardinals, the Cubs or the White Sox, we're all part of Illinois."