Illini Football 2022

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#276      

illinistephen

I
illinistephen
GrayGhost77 said:
Chief has been gone for 15 years now. People just need to let it go.
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Maybe people did let it go, as in they no longer go to the games.
Given this I would hope for an increased urgency to listen to the good ideas people are posting here. I think it is a massive indictment that the admin has created nothing as a differentiating factor and has seemingly no ideas or plans to. Nebraska used to release balloons, Iowa waves at a hospital, Wisconsin jumps, Auburn flies an Eagle, OU has the sooner schooner, FSU has you know what, Colorado brings out a buffalo, Purdue has a big drum, USC has a Trojan plunge a sword, Clemson touches a rock, Oregon has stupid uniforms, Boise St. has blue turf. These are examples just off the top of my head. Illinois has a marching band. It's not even necessarily about the Chief anymore, it's about having something, anything else that is unique about Illinois.
Winning is the best fix, but then you absolutely can't give Lovie Smith a 4th year, let alone a 5th year and that falls on the administration too.
 
#277      

SAVAGE56OL

SAVAGE56OL
SAVAGE56OL
illinistephen said:
Maybe people did let it go, as in they no longer go to the games.
Given this I would hope for an increased urgency to listen to the good ideas people are posting here. I think it is a massive indictment that the admin has created nothing as a differentiating factor and has seemingly no ideas or plans to. Nebraska used to release balloons, Iowa waves at a hospital, Wisconsin jumps, Auburn flies an Eagle, OU has the sooner schooner, FSU has you know what, Colorado brings out a buffalo, Purdue has a big drum, USC has a Trojan plunge a sword, Clemson touches a rock, Oregon has stupid uniforms, Boise St. has blue turf. These are examples just off the top of my head. Illinois has a marching band. It's not even necessarily about the Chief anymore, it's about having something, anything else that is unique about Illinois.
Winning is the best fix, but then you absolutely can't give Lovie Smith a 4th year, let alone a 5th year and that falls on the administration too.
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If someone stopped going to games because of a mascot, they are the bigger snowflakes than the people they claim are "offended" by the mascot...people arent coming because Champaign is in the middle of nowhere 2.5 hrs from 80% of the states population and people dont want to waste a whole day on a terrible football team with a boring atmosphere when free time these days is hard to come by in our overworked society
 
#278      

'16caine

1
'16caine
SAVAGE56OL said:
If someone stopped going to games because of a mascot, they are the bigger snowflakes than the people they claim are "offended" by the mascot...people arent coming because Champaign is in the middle of nowhere 2.5 hrs from 80% of the states population and people dont want to waste a whole day on a terrible football team with a boring atmosphere when free time these days is hard to come by in our overworked society
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This. It’s 3-3.5 in the morning for an 11am kick and the same back.
 
#279      

DeonThomas

DeonThomas
South Carolina
DeonThomas
SAVAGE56OL said:
If someone stopped going to games because of a mascot, they are the bigger snowflakes than the people they claim are "offended" by the mascot...people arent coming because Champaign is in the middle of nowhere 2.5 hrs from 80% of the states population and people dont want to waste a whole day on a terrible football team with a boring atmosphere when free time these days is hard to come by in our overworked society
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Alabama, Oklahoma and Nebraska would like to say "HELLO".................

Your comment reminds me of Collin Cowherd in 2007 when Mike Shula was fired and Alabama was in the middle of their coaching search. Paraphrasing..............."Alabama, you need to let go of the dream that you're somehow the same elite program you were when Bear Bryant was the coach. Times have changed. You're just a rural university sitting in the middle of nowhere with no large metropolitan areas anywhere around you. Big name coaches are simply never going to come to Tuscaloosa."
 
#280      

Chukwuwumba

Chukwuwumba
Chukwuwumba
IllinoisssssssVarsity said:
You see a lot of baseball stadiums with stuff like this. I think that’s a great idea honestly. Maybe you got some small kids and you want to keep them away from the drunk, raucous noise in the student section, but still want to be able to bring them and enjoy a game. It’s probably not perfect, but’s also probably a way better use of that area than what it’s getting right now.
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My first thought is food festivals. All about bacon. BBQ another weekend, tacos…make it a competition. Even do high schools, make whatever they want.
Get that aligned with the games.
Might knock concessions, but focus will be on alcohol inside the stadium?
 
#282      

SAVAGE56OL

SAVAGE56OL
SAVAGE56OL
DeonThomas said:
Alabama, Oklahoma and Nebraska would like to say "HELLO".................

Your comment reminds me of Collin Cowherd in 2007 when Mike Shula was fired and Alabama was in the middle of their coaching search. Paraphrasing..............."Alabama, you need to let go of the dream that you're somehow the same elite program you were when Bear Bryant was the coach. Times have changed. You're just a rural university sitting in the middle of nowhere with no large metropolitan areas anywhere around you. Big name coaches are simply never going to come to Tuscaloosa."
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2 of those 3 have great footbal programs. None of them have NFL teams. If Illinois had 2 winning seasons in a row, I dont think we have an attendance/atmosphere problem. People are simply not going to spend the time and money on a bad football team...well, for some reason folks in Nebraska do.
 
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#283      

Mr. Tibbs

Mr. Tibbs
southeast DuPage
Mr. Tibbs
DeonThomas said:
Alabama, Oklahoma and Nebraska would like to say "HELLO".................

Your comment reminds me of Collin Cowherd in 2007 when Mike Shula was fired and Alabama was in the middle of their coaching search. Paraphrasing..............."Alabama, you need to let go of the dream that you're somehow the same elite program you were when Bear Bryant was the coach. Times have changed. You're just a rural university sitting in the middle of nowhere with no large metropolitan areas anywhere around you. Big name coaches are simply never going to come to Tuscaloosa."
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some people just dont understand college football - especially those sitting in offices in NYC or in LA .

they don't get it and never will
 
#285      

IlliniShelt

I
IlliniShelt
DeonThomas said:
Alabama, Oklahoma and Nebraska would like to say "HELLO".................

Your comment reminds me of Collin Cowherd in 2007 when Mike Shula was fired and Alabama was in the middle of their coaching search. Paraphrasing..............."Alabama, you need to let go of the dream that you're somehow the same elite program you were when Bear Bryant was the coach. Times have changed. You're just a rural university sitting in the middle of nowhere with no large metropolitan areas anywhere around you. Big name coaches are simply never going to come to Tuscaloosa."
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Having lived in Nebraska and living in Oklahoma, these aren't good comps. There's not much population outside of Lincoln and Omaha (maybe an hour away) and all of these folks support big red as their pro team (with many people openly saying, "this is all we have"). Norman is mins from OKC and 2 hours at most from Tulsa and there's not much population outside of these two metro areas.

From my experience as a downstater who attended the beloved, Champaign is seen as a place that Chicagoans and suburbanites go to for 4 years and then head back north. There just isn't the same pull for the Champaign (not necessarily the university) because many people in the state can find everything they need in Chicago/land. It certainly is a disadvantage for us to be so far away from the main population of the state but winning will fix a lot of that.
 
#286      

Butters

B
Butters
IlliniFaninHoosierLand said:
While I totally get what you're saying, I can't imagine many season ticket holders would want seats in that portion of the stadium either. Especially with the way the seats are set up on that end of the field.
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With the way attendance has been, we can fit everyone currently coming + 20k or more extra fans without using the north endzone seats at all... We don't need to move season ticket holders there in order to fit the students back in good seats.
 
#288      

illinistephen

I
illinistephen
SAVAGE56OL said:
If someone stopped going to games because of a mascot, they are the bigger snowflakes than the people they claim are "offended" by the mascot...people arent coming because Champaign is in the middle of nowhere 2.5 hrs from 80% of the states population and people dont want to waste a whole day on a terrible football team with a boring atmosphere when free time these days is hard to come by in our overworked society
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There are enough people in central Illinois to support the team assuming you get nothing from Chicago or St. Louis. Indiana in week 11 of a 2-10 (0-9) season against Rutgers outdrew Illinois Homecoming weekend. Surrounding schools like Iowa, Iowa St., Mizzou, Indiana, and Purdue all had much higher attendance and aren't in a major city, same with other further away rural schools like K. State, Texas Tech, Nebraska, or Penn St.
If the atmosphere is boring maybe the school can think of some new gameday traditions other than watching the marching band.
 
#289      

illinistephen

I
illinistephen
Butters said:
With the way attendance has been, we can fit everyone currently coming + 20k or more extra fans without using the north endzone seats at all... We don't need to move season ticket holders there in order to fit the students back in good seats.
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Honestly, why not put the student section at the fifty yard line in the lower bowl of the east stands and spread them north/south as needed? There are enough seats on the west side for boosters. With all the money projected from TV, the boosters make up a smaller percentage of the revenue every year, and the ath. dept. shouldn't be in poverty. Prioritize the students (future alumni) and make sure the lower bowl is full for TV.
 
#290      

IlliniKat91

IlliniKat91
Chicago, IL
IlliniKat91
IlliniShelt said:
Having lived in Nebraska and living in Oklahoma, these aren't good comps. There's not much population outside of Lincoln and Omaha (maybe an hour away) and all of these folks support big red as their pro team (with many people openly saying, "this is all we have"). Norman is mins from OKC and 2 hours at most from Tulsa and there's not much population outside of these two metro areas.

From my experience as a downstater who attended the beloved, Champaign is seen as a place that Chicagoans and suburbanites go to for 4 years and then head back north. There just isn't the same pull for the Champaign (not necessarily the university) because many people in the state can find everything they need in Chicago/land. It certainly is a disadvantage for us to be so far away from the main population of the state but winning will fix a lot of that.
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That's the crux. As a Chicagoan who came down for four years and comes back whenever she can, you need winning teams. People will and do make the drive for the basketball team now. If football can turn it around (and if they make it more appealing for students to attend, too), they'll have the same result.
 
#291      

illinistephen

I
illinistephen
IlliniKat91 said:
That's the crux. As a Chicagoan who came down for four years and comes back whenever she can, you need winning teams. People will and do make the drive for the basketball team now. If football can turn it around (and if they make it more appealing for students to attend, too), they'll have the same result.
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Thinking on this a bit. They could offer one non-transferable free season ticket to any undergrad or grad student where it is their first fall on campus. Maybe even expand that to university employees. If Amazon Prime, Hulu, Spotify, or whoever can offer free trials of their goods it would stand to reason that the university could do the same thing for the same reason's. They have the extra supply and better to have a potential future fan than an empty seat.
 
#293      

pvaughn8

P
pvaughn8
Doesn't seem to be much buzz on the forum here for a new couch who almost made it to a bowl in his first season. I feel like people should be more excited rather than several pages of complaining about game day atmosphere. Is it recruiting that has us down or what?
 
#294      

Fighter of the Nightman

Fighter of the Nightman
Chicago, IL
Fighter of the Nightman
pvaughn8 said:
Doesn't seem to be much buzz on the forum here for a new couch who almost made it to a bowl in his first season. I feel like people should be more excited rather than several pages of complaining about game day atmosphere. Is it recruiting that has us down or what?
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I’m very excited for the season … but I would be about fifty times more excited if I knew we had top recruits on the way and building more momentum on that front.
 
#297      

Illinivek23

Illinivek23
Gurnee
Illinivek23
I am super excited to see the progress this year, especially if we can have an average aerial attack, solid O line play, a confident defense playing off momentum from last year. This is the best HC/DC/OC we have had in a long time and it will show this year.

Only a matter of time. Recruits will see the progress and want to be here.
 
#298      

Route47

Route47
Illinois
Route47
I think we need a better game day experience to compete with the at home and bar experience. It isn't a problem unique to Illinois, a lot teams are dealing with it so there should be plenty of ideas out there.

I'm not sure what the solution looks like, however. In stadium bar? Restaurant? More in game gimmicks?
 
#299      

Fighter of the Nightman

Fighter of the Nightman
Chicago, IL
Fighter of the Nightman
Route47 said:
I think we need a better game day experience to compete with the at home and bar experience. It isn't a problem unique to Illinois, a lot teams are dealing with it so there should be plenty of ideas out there.

I'm not sure what the solution looks like, however. In stadium bar? Restaurant? More in game gimmicks?
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It’s been beaten to death, and I’ll admit my specific ideas are lacking, but the root issue is pretty simple: people need to view Memorial Stadium as some sort of social experience that you wouldn’t want to miss out on - a party, a barbecue, whatever you want to call it. Fans can’t feel like they’re all watching the game individually, we need an “atmosphere” that goes beyond the football.
 
#300      

Cook

Cook
Richmond, VA
Cook
Terrace the NEZ into a two level terrace/deck type area and connect it to both main stands. That would open up a plethora of options to do interesting, unique, crowd pleasing things with the space.

Could do things like the Nationals Devils Backbone Left Field Lodge hospitality area.

1659317755970.jpeg
 
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