Considering how long its been since I've written on RABA I debated even writing that I would be departing the NIU blogosphere/message board. After considering where I'm going from here, it's probably good to give a heads up. 

This August I'll be returning to Northern Illinois to begin my new adventure in graduate school, majoring in communications with a focus in public relations and hopefully will be gaining some experience in sports communication as well. As with many recent grads (journalism or not) the economy threw us all a curveball of Stephen Strasburg proportions.

That's why after working part-time for over a year now it's time to move on. So why am I leaving RABA and the boards? For at least one semester I'll be working back at the Northern Star to make some cash and hone some skills, while hopefully broadening and rekindling some connections with the people at NIU athletics and beyond.

I would like to thank the RABA readers for your time and thoughtful opinions of my writing while I was here. I hope I was able to show most of you that I am capable of a fair and balanced opinion on NIU sports.

I also hope whatever reputation I have now, good or bad, does not follow me. I know I have written some things that have not come down lightly on NIU (my Bleacher Report, Mike Korcek column) or have pushed the limits of ethical journalism which many major media outlets do by the day (Me'co Brown rumor mill story). (For the record: Breese heard the same Brown rumors I did and gave his consent to run it, so please nobody think that one was personal bias coming out).

At the same time I've written things that touched the general opinion (Fire Ricardo Patton), highlighted the people doing good things at NIU (Wolfe and English), while keeping things pertaining NIU athletics in perspective (staying humble after Purdue column) and giving knowledgeable analysis (sticking with the run game).

Anyways, I'm hoping for a fresh start this fall at NIU with everyone from my Star colleagues, to the students, the alumni, the Star readers, the Star haters, RABA, the message boards, and just as important, NIU Media Relations. Good reputation or bad, I'm giving NIU a fresh start and can only hope for the same.

Nothing was ever personal to any of the parties and I plan to continue to call things how I see them (there's the news side of my journalistic background). With that said, however, I'm also looking forward to further exploring what NIU athletics brings to NIU and the student body; a note I think has often been lost in wins, losses, money and student fees.

In the past year-plus I have grown and matured as a journalist, a writer, an interviewer and much more. I am beyond excited at the chance to put my growth on display for the NIU fan base. I hope you all keep reading and I am always open to your opinions on my writing, which I'm happy to accept via e-mail (jerry.burnes@gmail.com). If you're interested in any other writing, you can find various links on my website (sorry, had to self-promote).

In the meantime I thank you guys again. Best of luck to you all and a special thanks to Mike Breese for allowing me to come on and write for Red and Black Attack. I appreciate the opportunity and again, I appreciate all the feedback.

You'll be seeing my name again soon.

JB

Merry Christmas to all 2 or 3 of my visitors, the troops overseas, epasnoopy who is in basic training, and the players and coaches getting ready for the 5th postseason game of this decade.  And everybody else!

GO HUSKIES!

Hello all

Yup, I'm literally on a boat.

Blogging takes a toll on the body, so I'm taking this week to reset everything.

It's a bit of a non-news week sans that this is the heart of recruiting season.  The bowl game practices continue to go on, but it's still 18 days until the International Bowl in Toronto.

Feel free to post your own stories or links in the FanPosts or FanShots section on the right sidebar -----------------------> These can be anything from how the season has gone from your perspective to bowl projections.  I'll be back full-time as soon as the next Monday rolls around.

-Mike

Have a Huskie help out with your cooking today!

What am I thankful for?  Ben Gross can take it from here:

When I think about who to give thanks to, one person comes to mind: the scheduling god.
In 11 games, NIU’s opponents have a record of 43-80. That’s not good. And when you break it down, it gets juicier than a turkey leg.

NIU’s seven wins this year are against teams with a combined record of 15-64. That’s a winning percentage of about 19 percent.

The Huskies’ four losses are against opponents with a combined record of 28-16, a winning percentage of 63.6 percent.

NIU has failed to beat a team with a winning record. And all the Huskies’ losses are against teams with a winning record, except Toledo, which has a 5-6 record.

With seven wins, some against the worst teams in the nation, NIU is likely participate in a bowl game.

But before we feast upon this bountiful gift, as 67 other teams will also participate in bowl season, we have to give thanks to those we played this year. Thank you, schedule god, for the competition this season. It truly was a big turkey.

Rank	Team	Delta
1	Texas	3
2	TCU	4
3	Alabama	2
4	Florida	2
5	Iowa
6	Boise State	3
7	Cincinnati
8	Oregon	2
9	Southern Cal	2
10	LSU	4
11	Georgia Tech	2
12	Penn State	1
13	Oklahoma State	3
14	Virginia Tech	2
15	Houston
16	Pittsburgh	7
17	Miami (Florida)	9
18	Ohio State	3
19	Utah	2
20	West Virginia
21	South Carolina
22	Arizona
23	Mississippi
24	Notre Dame	1
25	Navy
Last week's ballot

On to the standings

Still a very close race.  My problem is I keep forgetting to pick each week.  Domination starts now.

Rank	Team	Delta
1	Florida
2	Alabama	1
3	Texas	1
4	Boise State
5	Virginia Tech
6	TCU
7	Miami (Florida)
8	Nebraska
9	LSU
10	Cincinnati
11	Oregon
12	Southern Cal
13	Iowa
14	Penn State	2
15	Georgia Tech	2
16	Ohio State	4
17	Wisconsin	1
18	Brigham Young	3
19	Oklahoma	3
20	Oklahoma State	6
21	South Florida	3
22	Kansas	1
23	Missouri	2
24	Utah
25	Notre Dame
Last week's ballot

This week's Pick'em Standings!!!!!

Rank	Selection	Edit	W-L	Pts
1	GoHuskiesGo's picks		12-6	127
2	Grayhound's picks		11-7	108
3	tommyallenn's picks		9-9	93
4	unclec44's picks		11-7	91
5	novaknation's picks		8-10	88

Overall Standings

...only one point separates the kind from his minions

Rank	Team	Delta
1	Florida
2	Texas
3	Alabama
4	Boise State
5	Virginia Tech
6	TCU
7	Miami (Florida)	11
8	Nebraska	1
9	LSU	8
10	Cincinnati
11	Oregon	5
12	Southern Cal	8
13	Iowa	1
14	Oklahoma State
15	Auburn
16	Penn State	1
17	Georgia Tech	2
18	Wisconsin	3
19	Mississippi
20	Ohio State
21	Brigham Young
22	Oklahoma	13
23	Kansas	2
24	South Florida
25	Missouri
Last week's ballot

Pick'em Standings

This week:

Rank	Selection	Edit	W-L	Pts	Tie Breaker
1	Winner Winner		11-6	99	24-31
2	unclec44's picks		9-8	95	16-17
3	Foreigner		9-8	93	9-16
4	jobsjox		10-7	86	16-17
5	niutrav09's picks		11-6	84

Closest score prediction was yours truly predicting a 7-24 victory for the Huskies. novaknation & jburnes both predicted WMU victories.