Some thoughts after returning from NJ last night having seen an absolute Illini miracle in person with my Illini brother
@Retro62 .
- There's nothing to add about that final play. Watching it unfold surrounded by a group of around 8-10 Rutgers fans who stayed to the end and were really friendly people the whole afternoon was something I'll remember to my dying day, if I don't lose my mind in the interim. From confusion after our FG attempt about what was going on (how can you give an opposing HC a chance to reconsider a 57-year field goal kicked directly into a gale), to hope that we might have a chance to get closer, to elation that PB caught the ball and had space to run, to relief that he would get out of bounds around the 20 and we'd have a shot at a reasonable FG, to utter disbelief after he turned the corner that he was gonna score, to the instant reaction of the Rutgers group around us: "Let's get out of here." And then my exclamation "What the f*&k just happened?!" Basically up there as one of the most disorienting ~ one-minute periods of my life.
- I've been watching college ball in person since I was in first grade. I've never seen anything like that sitting in the stands and likely never will again.
- As someone else noted, the deliberate imposition of sound system noise at excruciating decibels when the Illini set up to snap EVERY FREAKING PLAY was ridiculous. I understand that Schiano probably mandates it because their crowd isn't sufficient to give them that advantage. But the league needs to shut it down. And BTW their crowd on its own could make some serious noise when the situation required it.
- I liked SHI Stadium. It's built into the side of a hill. We don't win that game without the fact that the field is well below ground level from the prevailing WNW winds, which blew at ~15-20 mph the entire game. (Of course, just our luck, in the 4th quarter the wind turned around and began to blow form the WSW, so we were driving into it at the end.) No way Luke could have thrown accurately into or with that wind all day. At field level it was much calmer and that gave us a chance. Even then it caused problems and the ball often floated or got held up short. It was a game suited for Rutgers' running game, and Kaliakmanis took advantage of it on some spectacular scrambles. Anyway, it's a nice place to see a game. A sunken bowl close to the field with excellent sightlines and a couple balconies that were well under 25% full. Can't imagine how cold it was up there in the east balcony with temps in the high 40s and that wind.
- This was our second trip to Rutgers in a year. Saw the Illini basketball victory in the RAC last December. If you ever have the chance to see hoops there, do it. It's a tiny, steep arena and it rocks. One of my favorite all-time places to see a basketball game. I'll also head back to a future football game. The stadium is across the river from campus in Piscataway but it's an easy 30-minute walk through a beautiful park, across a short vehicle bridge with a pedestrian walkway, and then a wooded park along the river where people tailgate. I parked in a garage in downtown New Brunswick for 10 hours, a mere five-minute walk from the old quad, and paid only $17.
- The core of the old campus on the New Brunswick side of the river is beautiful. Several old stone buildings from the early 1800s and a gorgeous classic quad. The place got started in 1766. By U.S. standards it's ancient. Unfortunately, it has a fair amount of hideous 1960s and '70s architecture, too. Coincidentally, the exterior of the old College Gym, where the BB team played until the RAC was built in the late '70s, resembles Huff Gymnasium.
- Finally, we both remarked yet again on how friendly and chill Rutgers fans are. Same as at the basketball game a year ago. They were hospitable to us all day long and had a sort of "anticipatory nut punch" humor about their football program that was spectacularly vindicated yesterday. Even after that ending, as we were standing there gaping at what had just happened and Rutgers fans were streaming up the steps to exit, lots of them congratulated us on the win.
- After the game we headed back across the river to a tavern in the heart of the campus town for beer, stromboli, and more football on TV at the bar. It was packed and lots of people came up to us and congratulated us on the win. Only one guy was a tool and kvetched about the officiating and how in his view it gifted us the game. Anyway, we commented about how much we like hanging with the Rutgers fans and one guy noted that their hospitality is partially because they're not fanatical about their programs the way, say, Ohio State or Penn State fans are. They just enjoy the tailgating and camaraderie, and the games, and let the chips fall where they may.
- If you have the chance to attend games there, do it. It's refreshing, particularly because the two of us (living in the DC area) are regularly subject to Maryland fans. The basketball ones in particular are the lowest of low-rent, hostile, profane troglodytes. Delusional entitlement psychology paired with bitter insecurity. Rutgers is a welcome, 180-degree, respite from that.
- Lots of fellow Illini fans there. Wonderful to see.
- I really enjoy visiting New Jersey for games. I lived ~ 30 minutes away from the stadium in Northern Jersey for the better part of a year in my first job out of Illinois in '90/'91; in the intervening decades I never thought I would ever type the preceding sentence.
