{"id":6032,"date":"2015-02-11T14:59:05","date_gmt":"2015-02-11T20:59:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/?p=6032"},"modified":"2015-02-23T00:33:31","modified_gmt":"2015-02-23T06:33:31","slug":"for-one-national-signing-day-beckman-earns-chicagos-ear","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/for-one-national-signing-day-beckman-earns-chicagos-ear\/","title":{"rendered":"For One National Signing Day, Beckman Earns Chicago\u2019s Ear"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Bennet Hayes<\/p>\n

Tim Beckman and the Illinois football program are often overlooked in a Chicago market dominated by professional sports. At least for a day, Beckman changed that. <\/p>\n

The Illinois coach overshadowed the unveiling of his 25-man recruiting class on National Signing Day last week, with a bizarre attempt to enlist the state\u2019s sports media in his quest to return the Illini to national prominence. <\/p>\n

\n

Related stories<\/h1>\n

Criticizing College Athletes: Fair Game?<\/a><\/div>\n

“I\u2019m gonna leave this up to you guys, [OK]?\u201d Beckman said in a press conference. \u201cWe\u2019re all in this state. We all want to build the best football team that we can. So I\u2019m gonna put it on you. What are [recruits] reading?\u201d <\/p>\n

One reporter sought confirmation in asking Beckman if he was actually imploring the media to be more positive about Illini football.<\/p>\n

\u201cEverybody,\u201d Beckman responded. \u201cEverybody. Let\u2019s build this thing into a championship, and the more positive stuff you can talk about, the better off we all are.\u201d<\/p>\n

The backlash from the Chicago sports media was quick and consistent. Beckman\u2019s use of his podium on a day he had the full attention of the Illinois media contingent, was curious at best, self-destructive at worst. <\/p>\n

Chicago Tribune columnist Steve Rosenbloom ended his Beckman reaction piece<\/a> with a commendation \u2013 of sorts. <\/p>\n

\u201cIntended or not, Beckman made a play Wednesday,\u201d Rosenbloom wrote. \u201cCongratulations, Tim, this is the most publicity you\u2019ll bring to the program until you get fired.\u201d <\/p>\n

Photo at top: Illinois football coach Tim Beckman directs team in 2014. (Mark Jones, Illinois Athletics)<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Bennet Hayes Tim Beckman and the Illinois football program are often overlooked in a Chicago market dominated by professional sports. At least for a day, Beckman changed that. The Illinois coach overshadowed the unveiling of his 25-man recruiting class on National Signing Day last week, with a bizarre attempt to enlist the state\u2019s sports […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":71,"featured_media":6092,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31,243],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6032","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports","category-winter-2015"],"yoast_head":"\nFor One National Signing Day, Beckman Earns Chicago\u2019s Ear - Medill Reports Chicago<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/for-one-national-signing-day-beckman-earns-chicagos-ear\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"For One National Signing Day, Beckman Earns Chicago\u2019s Ear - Medill Reports Chicago\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Bennet Hayes Tim Beckman and the Illinois football program are often overlooked in a Chicago market dominated by professional sports. At least for a day, Beckman changed that. The Illinois coach overshadowed the unveiling of his 25-man recruiting class on National Signing Day last week, with a bizarre attempt to enlist the state\u2019s sports […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/for-one-national-signing-day-beckman-earns-chicagos-ear\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Medill Reports Chicago\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-02-11T20:59:05+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2015-02-23T06:33:31+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2015\/02\/Beckman_1100NoCrop.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1100\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"822\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"bennethayes\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"bennethayes\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/for-one-national-signing-day-beckman-earns-chicagos-ear\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/for-one-national-signing-day-beckman-earns-chicagos-ear\/\",\"name\":\"For One National Signing Day, Beckman Earns Chicago\u2019s Ear - Medill Reports Chicago\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/for-one-national-signing-day-beckman-earns-chicagos-ear\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/for-one-national-signing-day-beckman-earns-chicagos-ear\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2015\/02\/Beckman_1100NoCrop.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2015-02-11T20:59:05+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2015-02-23T06:33:31+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/#\/schema\/person\/1fdfe6a5e8d604f481dad5aeecf772d8\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/for-one-national-signing-day-beckman-earns-chicagos-ear\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/for-one-national-signing-day-beckman-earns-chicagos-ear\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/for-one-national-signing-day-beckman-earns-chicagos-ear\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2015\/02\/Beckman_1100NoCrop.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2015\/02\/Beckman_1100NoCrop.jpg\",\"width\":1100,\"height\":822,\"caption\":\"Illinois football coach Tim Beckman directs team in 2014. Photo: Mark Jones, Illinois Athletics.\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/for-one-national-signing-day-beckman-earns-chicagos-ear\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"For One National Signing Day, Beckman Earns Chicago\u2019s Ear\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/\",\"name\":\"Medill Reports Chicago\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/#\/schema\/person\/1fdfe6a5e8d604f481dad5aeecf772d8\",\"name\":\"bennethayes\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/33c83fdf3db3a5726aca6b06454a4dad0e20ac437a29dfd1689076700c53d365?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/33c83fdf3db3a5726aca6b06454a4dad0e20ac437a29dfd1689076700c53d365?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"bennethayes\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/author\/bennethayes\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"For One National Signing Day, Beckman Earns Chicago\u2019s Ear - Medill Reports Chicago","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/for-one-national-signing-day-beckman-earns-chicagos-ear\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"For One National Signing Day, Beckman Earns Chicago\u2019s Ear - Medill Reports Chicago","og_description":"By Bennet Hayes Tim Beckman and the Illinois football program are often overlooked in a Chicago market dominated by professional sports. At least for a day, Beckman changed that. The Illinois coach overshadowed the unveiling of his 25-man recruiting class on National Signing Day last week, with a bizarre attempt to enlist the state\u2019s sports […]","og_url":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/for-one-national-signing-day-beckman-earns-chicagos-ear\/","og_site_name":"Medill Reports Chicago","article_published_time":"2015-02-11T20:59:05+00:00","article_modified_time":"2015-02-23T06:33:31+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1100,"height":822,"url":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2015\/02\/Beckman_1100NoCrop.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"bennethayes","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"bennethayes","Est. reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/for-one-national-signing-day-beckman-earns-chicagos-ear\/","url":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/for-one-national-signing-day-beckman-earns-chicagos-ear\/","name":"For One National Signing Day, Beckman Earns Chicago\u2019s Ear - Medill Reports Chicago","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/for-one-national-signing-day-beckman-earns-chicagos-ear\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/for-one-national-signing-day-beckman-earns-chicagos-ear\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2015\/02\/Beckman_1100NoCrop.jpg","datePublished":"2015-02-11T20:59:05+00:00","dateModified":"2015-02-23T06:33:31+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/#\/schema\/person\/1fdfe6a5e8d604f481dad5aeecf772d8"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/for-one-national-signing-day-beckman-earns-chicagos-ear\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/for-one-national-signing-day-beckman-earns-chicagos-ear\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/for-one-national-signing-day-beckman-earns-chicagos-ear\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2015\/02\/Beckman_1100NoCrop.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2015\/02\/Beckman_1100NoCrop.jpg","width":1100,"height":822,"caption":"Illinois football coach Tim Beckman directs team in 2014. Photo: Mark Jones, Illinois Athletics."},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/for-one-national-signing-day-beckman-earns-chicagos-ear\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"For One National Signing Day, Beckman Earns Chicago\u2019s Ear"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/#website","url":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/","name":"Medill Reports Chicago","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/#\/schema\/person\/1fdfe6a5e8d604f481dad5aeecf772d8","name":"bennethayes","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/33c83fdf3db3a5726aca6b06454a4dad0e20ac437a29dfd1689076700c53d365?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/33c83fdf3db3a5726aca6b06454a4dad0e20ac437a29dfd1689076700c53d365?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"bennethayes"},"url":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/author\/bennethayes\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6032","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/71"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6032"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6032\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6092"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6032"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6032"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6032"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}