Illini Football 2026

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#401      
altgeld88
BlueFlag said:
Great info on Illini Football!

But Dude, . . . do you have a Day Job?
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I recall that he noted once he just cobbles this stuff together during breaks from cranking out Excel workbook financial models, which still makes me chuckle. He is truly a Loyalty treasure. And, I infer, kinda OCD like I was at his age :ROFLMAO:

On the attendance front, yeah, it's nice to see the joint full again, even after carving ~10-15k off the capacity. My formative in-person Illini years were the '84 and '85 seasons in the wake of the Rose Bowl when we still drew 70k+ regularly. We did so in '89-'91 (the peak Mackovic seasons), which was the final season I attended a game after graduating (MSU, a 15-13 rock fight Illini win). And in 2000, when I went to the Michigan night game.
 
#405      
altgeld88
Mr. Tibbs said:
when Lemmonier stole the game from us
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Now why you gotta bring that up...??!!

It was a beautiful September evening sitting the west balcony, and a fantastic Illini first half in which we blew them out. And now, 26 years later, what sticks with me most is walking down the ramp in the SW tower after the final gun hearing the visiting fans singing "Isn't it great to be a Michigan Wolverine..." while white-hot hatred of the officials and the visitors burned within me.
 
#406      
chiefini
altgeld88 said:
Now why you gotta bring that up...??!!

It was a beautiful September evening sitting the west balcony, and a fantastic Illini first half in which we blew them out. And now, 26 years later, what sticks with me most is walking down the ramp in the SW tower after the final gun hearing the visiting fans singing "Isn't it great to be a Michigan Wolverine..." while white-hot hatred of the officials and the visitors burned within me.
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Same here @altgeld88. That game just increased my hatred of anything and everything scUM (if that was even possible).
 
#411      
altgeld88
chiefini said:
Same here @altgeld88. That game just increased my hatred of anything and everything scUM (if that was even possible).
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I was in Ann Arbor the following September for the football game (rescheduled to late in the month because of 9/11). That day was our only regular season loss (45-20) amidst a glorious 10-1 run. As I was leaving the stadium (wearing my old school c. 1988 Champion reverse-weave ILLINOIS sweatshirt) a guy walking toward me ragged on us. I grinned at him and said something like "Big deal; it's only one game. Basketball season begins in a month or so. It lasts much longer and we'll enjoy kicking your a$$ twice."

(And we did, as we shared the conference BB title in '02. UM was awful back then. Brian Ellerbe had taken over from the disgraced Steve Fisher and ran them into the ground. Then Tommy Ammaker showed up that season and they finished 10th. Only PSU was worse.)

Anyway, it was among the finest on-the-spot retorts of my life. He literally choked on his stunned laughter as everyone around us turned around and stared a la those 1970s EF Hutton commercials.

Shut his a$$ up. He had nothing and looked like a fool. To his credit he gave me props to save face. Makes me chuckle sadistically 25 years later thinking about it.

And for the young'uns who have no idea what or who EF Hutton is, well, here you go:

 
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#425      
Birdus
If those two guys come back, that would be pretty huge!
 
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