CHAMPAIGN – We called it The Lap, the start-to-finish run that began the night before the Big Ten Conference football kickoff meetings in Chicago and running until the conclusion of the basketball season, which was usually roasted on the night before the Big Ten Tournament.

Those were the days, when Mark Tupper of the Decatur Herald & Review would join up with myself and Herb Gould of the Chicago Sun-Times. As the beat writer for the Springfield State Journal-Register (and later the Peoria Journal Star), it was both a rivalry and a network, alternately trying to scoop each other or working together to beat the other heavyweights on the beat to the real news about the Illini.

From his days covering the Blackhawks, Herb became known as a grinder and a guy who liked his Scotch and never three-putt a green despite using a that old blade. He was “Herbie’’ to his closest friends.

Tupps’s opinion always demanded attention, because of his stature as a reporter and his tenure as a must read. And he could make a helluva Chicken Piccata in a Residence Inn kitchen, topped only by his late-night chili.

MORE FROM JOHN SUPINIE: Slowing down Adrian Martinez a key for Illini | Veteran plays want to rewrite Illini story | Illini scrimmage behind closed doors

Truth be told, I learned more from them than just about anybody, and working hard on deadline meant trying to climb to their Hall of Fame level. But the real fun was away from the court or gridiron. We never let a game get in the way of a good time.

The Lap was more of a marathon than a sprint. Pack the aspirin on the road. Scotch for Herbie. Rum/Diet Coke for Tupps in a big tumbler. Keep pouring the Baccardi and count to 11. Have a cold Budweiser for the guy known as Soupy, then a transition to an 11 count.

We saw many games, a few championships and endured quite a few coaching searches.

Having caught Herb between trips to Door County and Tupps on a return run from a shopping trip in Cham-bana, let’s talk about the prospects of Bret Bielema, the latest hire. Go ahead and pour one for yourself.

When hunting the latest coaching hire for Illini football, Bret Bielema’s name kept coming up, but it didn’t make sense, according one unwritten rule among Big Ten Conference AD’s. They typically didn’t like a guy on his way down.

Bielema started fast by winning three Big Ten titles and making three Rose Bowl trips with the Badgers. After the risky move to Arkansas and going undercover in the NFL, Bielema’s name seemed recycled, even for an Illini program that’s found it impossible to sustain success.

But as Bielema worked to build a staff and connect with prep coaches, it seemed to make more sense. This wasn’t a flash hire, more like a stable hire.

With a workable schedule (so many home games look winnable) and a loaded senior class filled with Super Seniors, Bielema has a chance to gain some momentum on the field this fall, which could turn heads on recruits. Analysts often talk about the Illini’s recruiting mojo to start a program, then it fades when they hit the field and fail to win.

Bielema understands the college game and the need for a coach to market himself as much as the program. He’s not afraid to work media (social media), and much of this seems so natural for him. Maybe he knows this might be his last big chance.

Gotta admit now, hiring Bielema sure looks better than it did nine months ago. There’s hope around here again. That’s a nice thing. Let’s see where it goes.

I’ll never blame Josh Whitman for throwing a first-down Hail Mary as his initial play-call as the Illini Athletic Director.

In his bold quest to fix University of Illinois football, why not go deep and wheel in Lovie Smith? Nothing else was working so why not take a shot with an NFL guy who had made his footprint in Chicago and St. Louis and in Florida and Texas? It seemed worth a chance.

Unfortunately, Lovie flamed out and Whitman got a second chance. This time, he schemed more logically, picking a man with a proven track record of succeeding not only in college football, but in the Big Ten Conference, where he’d won championships and been to Rose Bowls and learned how to recruit at a winning level.

Bret Bielema makes sense. And as we dive into his inaugural season as the latest Illini head coach, there’s a sense of belief – not desperation – that this guy at least knows how sustained winning works in this league.

Sustained winning is an unfamiliar concept in Champaign. But Whitman has handed the keys to a man who seems legitimately capable of driving the Illini football bus up a high hill -- gradually, if need be – but up nevertheless.

Don’t be frustrated by bumps along the way. He knows those are coming. But in Bielema, the Illini finally have a leader who is at home in college football, is comfortable pitching his program to high school talent and who recognizes the importance of keeping promising in-state prospects close to home.

He also doesn’t crawl under a desk and cover his head when Whitman asks him to shake hands with an influential donor.

Bielema gets it, the whole thing. Lovie Smith was a Hail Mary that fell incomplete. Bielema is a four-yard run between the tackles that, with patience, can move the chains.

Settle in and see if this is finally the difference maker. I have a feeling you will be pleasantly surprised.

When I first heard the rumors that Illinois was interested in hiring Bret Bielema, I thought, ``Why?’’ But the more I think about it, the more I say, ``Why not?’’

This could be a very good fit. Bielema, who was a boy-wonder at Wisconsin, has said all the right things about maturing from that surprising and disastrous move to Arkansas.

Being an Illinois native who played at Iowa and coached at Wisconsin, he knows the turf. He seems to be doing all the right things when it comes to establishing good recruiting relations in Illinois.

His formula of playing good old-fashioned Big Ten football -- pound the ball and have a stout defense -- is the way to go as he tries to revive an Illinois program that hasn’t had a winning season since the under-appreciated Ron Zook was fired in 2011.

Winning at Illinois won’t be easy. Despite its low profile, the Big Ten West is filled with programs that are getting the most out of their potential. Only Purdue and Nebraska are under-achieving at the moment. And the Cornhuskers still ooze potential.

That said, if Bielema can coax the Illini to the occasional 8-4 and keep them competitive the rest of the time, that would be a realistic goal. Ponder anything more than that later.

What Illinois needs now—what it has lacked for a while—is a consistent and reliable identity.

And come to think of it, that’s kind of what Bielema needs to do on the personal front as he tries to re-establish himself as a football coach.

Bottom line: Giving Bret Bielema the opportunity to find success at Illinois is very much worth a try.

Not yet a premium member? Sign up and now and pay just $20.21 for the first year of your annual subscription. Click on the promo below to get started. Enter promo code IL2021.

• Talk about this article on the Grange Grove message board.

• Watch our videos and subscribe to our YouTube channel

• Listen and subscribe to our podcast on Podbean.

• Follow us on Twitter: @IllinoisRivals, @JKarzen, @JohnSupinie, @Alec_Busse, @illiniguy1063

• Like us on Facebook.