Play4Kay at Redbird Arena

The annual Play4Kay women's basketball game at Redbird Arena this year was held on Sunday February 10 and featured the Indiana State Sycamores and the Illinois State Redbirds.  The normal faire of stationary bikes, treadmills, raffles, t-shirts, etc., helped to raise $20,000 for the Kay Foundations campaign against cancer.  For those that don't know, the foundation is named for famed women's college basketball coach Kay Yow.

A couple of pretty interesting things at this years game were the sneakers worn by Illinois State coach Kristen Gillespie.  The sneakers were a one of a kind pair that were commissioned by the foundation.  Several pairs of sneakers were made, and to my understanding were all different.  All the sneakers were given to different coaches across the country.  The pair worn by Coach Gillespie were auctioned off in a silent auction and transferred to the winner after the game.

The other item that was interesting was a result of the lighting upgrade over the past year.  The new LED lights that are aimed at the dome are color adjustable.  Normally patrons of the arena have seen them in Red.  During the "Pink" game, the lights were set to pink.  It's a really interesting feature and it will be interesting how they are used in the future.

Images from the game can be viewed here!  It's a small gallery, but more can be found by looking in the 2018-19 Illinois State Women's basketball gallery!  We hope you enjoy the views!

Valpo Crusaders trample IState Redbirds in MVC Men's basketball game

Well, starting off with the positive is the Star Spangled Banner was adequately performed last night at the start of the game.  It wasn't or even attempted to be overdone!  Not a first, but pleasantly refreshing.

From there, depending on the team you follow or the perspective you have - the rest of the night was either really good, or not so good.  Valpo walked on to something like a 14 - 0 run to start the game.  The Redbirds finally got it going in the 4th quarter and cut a 23 point deficit to 7 but it wasn't enough to change the momentum.  The Crusaders picked back up and sharpened their swords to take the score to a 16 point lead as the buzzer ended the bloodshed

Not a huge gallery this game, but some pretty cool under the bucket shots are here.

Redbirds defeat Ramblers by 8, move to 1st in MVC

February 2, 2019 - Normal, IL:  The Illinois State Redbirds and the Ramblers of Loyola Chicago squared off for a Men's Missouri Valley Basketball game to see who would walk away in sole possession of 1st place in the conference at near the midpoint of the season.  Dick Ludtke, a long time broadcaster was on hand to do the radio play by play and was recognized before the battle for his 1000th Redbird Basketball broadcast.

Just over 8100 fans nearly filled the 10,500 seat Redbird Arena and stayed in their seats to watch the entire game.  Although the point difference at the buzzer was 8 points in the Redbirds favor, the game was not really settled till inside the 1 minute mark.  The frenzied late play kept a crowd that oftens leaves with minutes left on the clock, in their seats till the end.

Photo Gallery!

McLean County Tournament concludes for 2019

We shot 12 games in 6 days - kind of a condensed week due to the weather here in McLean County - at the 2019 108th version of the McLean County Tournament.  The tournament is still the longest running basketball tournament in Illinois.

This year, the Eureka Hornets beat out El Paso Titans for the girls title and GCMS (Gibson City Melvin Sibley) Falcons beat out the El Paso Titan boys in a thriller that will be remembered for many years for the boys title.

Click to view all the images from the games we covered.

108th McLean County Tournament gets underway at EP-G Monday 1-21-2019

The 108th McLean County Tournament kicked off a couple days late this year due to the weather.  The original brackets and places of play are fairly skewed.  The actual brackets being used are located at www.hoiconference.com if you need to find them.

Alan Look Photography is again covering as much of this historic basketball tournament as possible.  Their work can be found at McLean County Tournament photos and galleries. There should be plenty of images to view and purchase.

Coach Norm Eash winningest CCIW coach in History

Wheaton Thunder rumbled into Bloomington Illinois on Saturday September 12th ranked at #12 in D3 football schools.  They never rumbled much the first half of the game, but came out in the 2nd half with a long kickoff return that left them just short of the goal and scored on the next play.  Illinois Wesleyan Titans got the ball back only to give it up on a fumble due to a pretty hard hit and the Thunder rumbled back into the end zone.  That was the last of the rumbles from the Thunder as the Titans muscled their way back up to their feet to push them out of Tucci Stadium.  Final score put the Titans on top.  The win was a good one for IWU and an even better one for Coach Norm Eash.  The win made Coach Eash the winningest football coach in the history of the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin (CCIW).

Congrats to the Titans and Coach Eash.

Game Photos by Alan Look Photography and Best Look Magazine!

Redbirds tackle Panthers at 107th Mid-America Classic football game

The Illinois State Redbirds defeated the Eastern Illinois Panthers on September 8, 2018 at the 107th playing of the Mid-America Classic held at Hancock Stadium in Normal Illinois.  The combination of Brady Davis at quarterback coupled with runners and receivers Spencer Schnell, Markel Smith and James Robinson provided many of the highlights.  The Panthers used 3 or more players at the quarterback position and couldn't seem to get started against the Redbird defense.

Click for Photo Gallery

Images are available for licensing from the Best Look in Sports Action Photography in Bloomington-Normal, Alan Look Photography.