I'm in Chicago, trying to convince people I'm real person for Big Ten media days. I was going to post this much earlier but for some reason there's no wireless in the interview room -- heathens. I attempted to connect to every open access point out there, eventually striking upon the Hyatt's own network. It's a little pricey:

I would like to purchase -100, Hyatt Regency Chicago website. And how.

Anyway, the very nice lady who is second-in-command of media wrangling decided I was a real person after extensive off-stage discussion. I now have 1) a media credential and 2) the clear implication I'm on a short leash. It seems doubtful I'll actually get a question in since there are 50 people in the room, but I'll try

Note: the Tiller question I proposed last night is off the table as it may result in arrest and deportation.

They're showing this year's new points of emphasis now; the first one was the implementation of a fifteen-yard penalty for hitting a "defenseless player" and I must confess that the play compilation could have been one of those youtube clip reels set to that "Boom" song. In the future we might have highlight reels titled "Best 15-Yard Penalties of 2008". Now they're showing a bunch of unsportsmanlike conduct penalties, most of them harmless, and telling everyone they should all be penalties.

The idea of live updates are thwarted by the wireless situation, but I've got notes on the first batch of coaches. It's super weird to be here, and I'm getting pretty irritated by the questions. I'll update this post as summaries go up

Updates: Summaries of the following coaches are up:

• Football Ron Zook
• Pat Fitzgerald
• Bret Bielema
• Joe Tiller
• Rich Rodriguez (this goes offsite, to MGoBlog).

The remaining five -- I had to duck out when Bill Lynch was speaking, unfortunately -- will go up tomorrow.