illini80
- Forgottonia
Idk how many times he said it all starts with me or something to that effect. Anyone who heard otherwise was just looking for something to complain about.
Pregame: Illinois vs Purdue, Saturday, November 12th, 11:00am CT, ESPN2
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skyIdub
Winged Warrior
The warmth of this Positive Gritty post is all any true Illini fan should need for Saturday!!
I won't be taking a "vacation" day this time. Ima go to work.
Go to work on Purdue boys!!
redwingillini11
White and Sixth
- North Aurora
I am surprised that we didn't do a "$[ranking] for [ranking] hours" flash sale this week considering the expected drop in attendance, or any student ticket giveaways for that matter. But I am not as frustrated as I was last month. The 4 pack is very fair so this one is more on the fickle fans that are not willing to come out after one trip up. Just give the team at least 45k on a cold November afternoon and lets win the division.
Excellent Post.
We absolutely would build a statue. There’d
probably also be a steakhouse or two with his last name on the sign.
If we had something akin to dare I say: (gulp!) Iowa had for good long run. Where it was almost a given that they’d win at least 7 games or so. That would be amazing.
It also would have been, beyond our
wildest dreams a very very short time ago.
In other news, maybe it should be “Chief Optimisty,” these days huh? I like it.
illini80
- Forgottonia
Concussion protocol is all we know so far. It’s still possible.
BZuppke
- Plainfield
I think there’s more to attendance than winning although that sure helps. It’s all the other distractions. As in - I can watch the game on tv and still go to dinner later with friends, or go to that party or my kids soccer game. I’m two hours away and I’ll be there but it takes up your whole day and people have other things. Winning will help as we’ll draw more fans out who even if they’re not there as a season ticket holder (me) they’ll make it to a game or so and help fill things up that way.
If we have sustained success and big games start selling out early, people who want to see a game will start buying tickets to the not so big games.
But overall people have a lot of other options than coming to a game and that’s very different from the 1980s when few games were televised and people had fewer other distractions.
If we have sustained success and big games start selling out early, people who want to see a game will start buying tickets to the not so big games.
But overall people have a lot of other options than coming to a game and that’s very different from the 1980s when few games were televised and people had fewer other distractions.
Fighter of the Nightman
- Chicago, IL
No, I totally agree. We are viewing this weekend as sort of a "Champaign trip," with dinner downtown Friday night and a full day/night of fun Saturday, but I understand that (1) some people have a WAY shorter turnaround to go to games and (2) not everyone is going to take a mini vacation for Illini football every other weekend ... after all, this is my first football game since 2016.
With that said, what bothers me is to see schools seemingly outdraw us PURELY on passion alone. Looking at any kind of math/statistics available, there is no reasonable argument that Purdue has anywhere near as big of fan base as ours, and both the population of Champaign-Urbana and a 1-hour driving radius around it are significantly bigger than West Lafayette and the radius around Purdue ... yet they outdraw us. That's just purely Purdue alumni and other locals wanting to go to games more, IMO.
In other words, I totally get why fewer people go to games now - that is a trend pervasive across all of college sports. However, 7-2 Illinois is still probably punching below its weight.
It takes time to change habits. The Illini football culture not having success for so long has become embedded into many people’s thoughts. The only thing that will change this is the Orange continuing to build a fine winning program and rebuilding fan support beyond the die-hards. And most importantly – keeping that winning culture until it becomes a habit in people's minds.
The Cornhuskers... even as currently awful as they are... will get 80,000-plus people all wearing red into their house because the program was so successful for such a long time and the Nebraska program became like Family to all the households in the State. In other words... the fans build a personal identity and stake in a program.
People love to identify with a Winner. And even though there are new challenges to getting people to leave the comfort of the big screen at home... ‘If You Build It, They Will Come’...
As for the Purdue program... they have been more successful than the Illini over the past period of time. And all of the Big Ten West can pretty much say the same thing. The Illini are crashing the Party...as well They should.
The same passion that has existed for generations for the Illini roundballers can be installed for the footballers. It just takes time and the right leadership and the time to install and maintain that winning culture. And then you won't be able to keep people away.
I am not sure how much of an attendance drop we will see. PU is the closest campus to Champaign and this game matters
Southernillini
- Mt. Vernon
We are making the two hour trip on Saturday. Was hoping for a later start time and warmer weather. Oh well Any post game suggestions? Will be me,my wife and two high school sophomores.
lstewart53x3
- Scottsdale, Arizona
Would’ve been cool to do the blue helmet with the flag decal.
redwingillini11
White and Sixth
- North Aurora
True, but I wouldn’t be surprised if we don’t have blue helmets to outfit every player at this point. Bielema truly has stuck to all orange all the time.
Agree wholeheartedly. This board is populated by people who are big Illini fans who either go to games or would if they could were distance or some other issues not a problem.
Not really attendance related, but me and some high school friends have a text chain — 7 of us on it. Four of us are Illinois alums, 5 are in Chicago area (me and another alum aren’t) and all are pretty big sports fans in general. At the start of the year, I was the only one who watched Illini football regularly, while another 2 might watch part of a game more as a curiosity. Through me talking about then and their success this year, I believe all in the text chain watched either the Minnesota or MSU game or both, including one guy who I’ve never heard mutter a word about Illini football and one of the alums who doesn’t watch much college football but loves Illini bball as well as the Bears. I doubt any of these guys will go to an Illini football game, but it takes time and winning to even move a team into the forefront of many people’s minds to the point that they’ll even consistently watch them on TV.
Agreed In the last 20 years, we hae had 16 losing sub-500 seasons Changing habits and mindset takes times.
I haven’t missed an Illini football game in decades. My brother used to watch but fell off after years of losing. I’ve been trying to get him re-engaged this year, but it’s a tough sell. He doesn’t want to waste time on a team that will eventually let him down. He’s all about Alabama football now, though he has no ties to the school or the area in general. I think he cheers for them as kind of joke, as if to say, i’ve suffered long enough, i’m getting on board a winner now. But i know in his heart he’s an Illini fan. We just have to deliver some consistent success before he’ll tune in again. I think there are a lot of fans like him.
Myself, I consider the journey most of the fun. We’re climbing a mountain. There will be slips along the way. We’ll likely get beat up by Michigan and OSU along the way (but maybe not?). But I’ll be cheering us on, hoping for a tick up in recruiting that winning can bring, building momentum, then who knows. Maybe my brother will start saying “Go Illini“ again instead of “Roll Tide”.
Myself, I consider the journey most of the fun. We’re climbing a mountain. There will be slips along the way. We’ll likely get beat up by Michigan and OSU along the way (but maybe not?). But I’ll be cheering us on, hoping for a tick up in recruiting that winning can bring, building momentum, then who knows. Maybe my brother will start saying “Go Illini“ again instead of “Roll Tide”.
GET TIX!!! GET LOUD!!1
redwingillini11
White and Sixth
- North Aurora
BEAT PURDUE.
Fighter of the Nightman
- Chicago, IL
Totally agree with you guys in general ... guess I'm just overly eager to see it change. I have said this before, but I was born in Peoria to two parents who were NIU grads but avid Illini fans their whole lives (as were their parents) for no other reason than ... they were Illinoisans, and the Illini were the state flagship team. I moved to Iowa in grade school and grew up the only Illini fan in a sea of Hawkeyes fans - many of whom had parents who went to different schools and a lot of these kids remained avid Hawkeyes fans even after attending other schools, including rival Big Ten universities. So, given the emotional attachment I developed to Illini sports (much more similar to growing up a "Cubs fan" for many people rather than usual NCAA allegiances) and how "personal" to my identity that fandom became considering where I lived and how it played a part in my friend groups, I inevitably remained a huge Illini fan even after going to college elsewhere.
It was jarring and disappointing as an adult, especially now living in Illinois, to see not only how few non-alum Illinoisans felt the same about the Illini but also how many alumni distanced themselves from the Illini, especially when they were bad. I think the number of non-alumni fans in Illinois, even in Chicagoland, is incredibly underrated and it's clear our alumni get into it when there's something to cheer for ... but I'd say it's fair to say that CASUAL Illinois fans have less of an emotional attachment to the Illini than many other CASUAL Big Ten fans do to their teams. Part of that is the track record of our football program vs. theirs, but part of it is more intangible and can be changed through marketing and outreach, IMO. I would like to see this change, and I believe it will with more wins ... it's just frustrating to wait, because I'm so ready!!
Let's get a huge win Saturday and take a huge step toward that goal!
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