Old Main Vein - The Eastern Illinois University Weblog

Wed, 24 Jan 2007 15:22:01 -0600

IT'S OVER, PANTHER. The worst thing to do is give an Eastern grad a vacation. Because we may never come back to work.

That's the case with Billy Panther, at least when it comes to this blog. Billy is packing it in. This is the last post. He's taking the advice of his friend the Dalai Lama (above) and joining him in permanent exile.

Billy is old. He doesn't get back to the alma mater anywhere as much as he'd like. Work, family and life after EIU are tugging him in different directions. And, you know, it's pretty hard to do a daily blog about a school where not much happens!!!

This was going to be Billy Panther Week. The staff of the online shrine planned this year to offer a $250 bounty on anyone who could send Prowler's mascot head to a P.O. Box we had set up. We were also going to ask outgoing president Lou Hencken to wipe the Prowler era away and, with an EIU version of an executive order in his final months as president, reinstate Billy to where he belonged.

But Billy's a Panther that's better off in exile - a fading symbol for the alums who leave, lose touch and whose memories also fade. He's their mascot. Prowler is for the students.

The online shrine will continue, the Romo Drinking Game will still be here. But the blog is over.

As the kids say, peace out!

Mon, 15 Jan 2007 22:52:30 -0600

BILLY IS ON VACATION THIS WEEK. Check back on the 22nd!

Fri, 12 Jan 2007 00:01:00 -0600

FOOTBALL COACH IS LEAVING. Mark Hutson, who took over when Bob Spoo was sick, is off to Tulane. (Thanks to an alum for the tip)

Fri, 12 Jan 2007 00:01:00 -0600

Hmmmmmmmmmmm, HIGH SCHOOLERS LIKE HIGH TECH when it comes to their colleges. What a great idea.

Thu, 11 Jan 2007 06:36:09 -0600

The Alumni Association's JANUARY BULLETIN is online. They've got nothin'.

Thu, 11 Jan 2007 14:07:17 -0600

THINK CHINA 88, BUT LESS GREASE. Charleston now has a Thai restaurant and is losing the sober-up specialists/burritos-as-big-as-your-heads boys, La Bamba. Keep it in mind the next time you're back at Eastern and looking for grub.

Wed, 10 Jan 2007 11:38:53 -0600

An assistant athletic director has been charged FELONIES AND A MISDEMEANOR SEX CHARGE. But Billy will be damned if he can figure out what the guy did to get arrested in the first place. Is there a police report in the house!?

Wed, 10 Jan 2007 00:01:00 -0600

PANTHER NATION. Here’s your weekly wrap-up of the accomplishments of average everyday EIU grads.

Accounting graduate Gerd Mueller is the new vice president of sales for ADM's Natural Health & Nutrition division.

Journalism graduate Joshua Niziolkiewicz is the new sports editor at The Lincoln Courier.

Tue, 9 Jan 2007 22:48:07 -0600

ROMO WATCH. Now see, if this guy was in EIU's PR department, we'd have already made millions off Tony Romo's fame.

WILDCARD PLAYOFF EDITION !! NOT A WIN BUT THANKS FOR THE GREAT SEASON !! THIS IS A CUSTOM made 6 INCH FIGURE OF THE DALLAS QB TONY ROMO AS TACKLED AT THE GOALINE AFTER THE MISSED SNAP! THIS FIGURE WILL COME IN A PROTECTIVE CASE, WITH GREAT LOOKING CUSTOM MADE PLAYOFF INSERTS !! WITH WILDCARD PLAYOFF SPECIAL !!

The current price is $76, which is still in the grasp of some Eastern grads. But haven't we all suffered enough?

I guess not.

Or this. Gawd.

Tue, 9 Jan 2007 07:44:00 -0600

The sign of an an increasingly impoverished Charleston: FERAL CATS.