Fighter of the Nightman
- Chicago, IL
I liked this post immediately after reading the first sentence, well done!!
#TeamSelloutWatchers
Pregame: Illinois vs Michigan State, Saturday, November 5th, 2:30pm CT, BTN
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#TeamSelloutWatchers
Fighter of the Nightman
- Chicago, IL
The problem you alluded to in your last sentence will unfortunately just take a generation growing up with good Illini football teams, IMO. Too many Illini fans (especially ones outside of the Champaign MSA) view that game as an inconvenience on a holiday weekend, and that is of course VERY unfortunate ... we need to get to the point where a long Thanksgiving Weekend and Illini Football are intertwined! For perspective, I am back at my parents every year in Iowa City for Thanksgiving. EVERY Friday after Thanksgiving, whether the game is in Lincoln or Iowa City, I party with all of my friends for the Iowa/Nebraska game - either tailgating in the cold or drinking in a bar. I'm not even an Iowa fan, but I look forward to it each year. On an even bigger scale, do you think any Michigan/OSU or Alabama/Auburn fans would miss that last game on Thanksgiving Weekend?? I've heard two main arguments for why the NU game will rarely if ever pull a big crowd.
Part of the problem is our ~rival~ Northwestern just isn't very exciting ... however, a lot of the teams we SHOULD be final-weekend-rivals with already have rivalries that we won't replace (namely, Iowa/Nebraska or Wisconsin/Minnesota). We blew our chance at that one with years of sucking and partial bad luck that our only other instate team is a tiny private school with few fans and a historic tradition of sports futility ... so, unfortunately, that isn't going to change.
The other problem I see people cite is that too much of our fan base lives far away, especially the thousands and thousands of Illini alumni/fans in the St. Louis and especially Chicago MSAs; they are unlikely to drive to Champaign on that weekend, especially vs. a rival they perceive as lame and (way too often) for an Illini team whose season is over). I went into detail in another post that there are significantly more people within a 1-hour drive of Champaign than there are West Lafayette or Iowa City (both of which outdraw us regularly, with Iowa putting almost 70k in the stands the DAY after Thanksgiving ever year...), so I don't actually buy this argument either! I think if it became "more of a thing" in Champaign, we'd fill it up ... but it'll take more than one good year. IF you accept this argument as an insurmountable obstacle to Illinois ever getting a good crowd for the last game of the season, even when we are good, then I don't see how you can argue for any other solution other than making the investment right now in making Illinois/Northwestern an annual holiday tradition in Chicago, regardless of who the home team is. That not only shifts the game to a market with tens of thousands of our alumni/fans (and a majority of our current students), it shifts some of the ticket burden to Northwestern's side, as well. Honestly, it's never going to be Georgia/Florida or Texas/Oklahoma, but I would 100% support this.
Since we are now a Woody Hayes 3 yards and a cloud of astroturf team this weather suits me fine. Of course I will watching on TV from SoCal 75 and sunny
KBLEE
- Montgomery, IL
What else is there to do in Iowa the day after Thanksgiving?
I was at that game. Pretty much all the students went home for Thanksgiving break, including myself. I was a season ticket holder and the stadium was loud and rockin' that year and I was so upset I wouldn't get to see us at least claim at the very least a share of the B10 championship. However, me and my friends were able to convince our parents to let us drive back down from Chicago for the game. We were hyped and full on ready to storm the field if the situation arose, but the atmosphere wasn't quite at that level, haha. The level of enthusiasm left a lot to be desired from the crowd that day, and I recall us being told to sit down while watching... In the student section... Right next to Block I... I also remember a bunch of people leaving early to beat traffic. It was a curmudgeony crowd that day for sure, haha, but hey, good times.
Fighter of the Nightman
- Chicago, IL
Same thing as the rest of the Midwest from October to April - watch college sports and drink!
You sir are a madman and I love it
Fighter of the Nightman
- Chicago, IL
Yes, he is, and I too love it! I need to find a way to spin my experience in consulting to get a cushy job in the DIA ... I would kill to have access to all of the stuff they do, and I think it would be absolutely fascinating and hilarious to be in the meeting where they are deciding what tickets to make available when.
ILLINIFAN2
- Des Moines, IA
And you are correct (I live in Des Moines)
Today is the final day of the two day Mexican Day of the Dead holiday - Dia de Muertos - whereby families take time to give respect to death and honor their ancestors who have passed to the other side.
I’m not Mexican, but the best way I can describe it is as a far deeper, significantly more profound Halloween-esque celebration, where part of the tradition involves people painting their faces to resemble or perhaps conjure the living dead, to not mourn but celebrate the passage of life and the other side that exists beyond the life of the organic body. Families also create temporary altars in their homes to honor and remember their ancestors, placing upon them old photos of their lost loves - it’s a really touching, beautiful practice.
So I messed around and made a few Illini Dia de Muertos images. To give remembrance to the legacy of our Fighting Illini, all of the Illini athletes and other personnel - and friends and family - who have carried us from the Black and White to the HD 4k era. And to give offering to the Illini ancestors, such that they ride with us in the battles to come, that the future may be littered with the captured souls of our rivals.
Retro62
- North Bethesda, Maryland
I was right there with ya brother! What a great game that was.
It was a great game, but the OSU game was more memorable. The come from behind, great run by Rooks, and quite frankly, figuring out that we belonged. By the time Michigan showed up a few weeks later I was actually expecting to win.
That said, I still hadn't developed the deep hatred for Michigan that a bunch of Illinos fans had at the time.
"Hey Reporter, do you think you'd be a better reporter I'd you actually tried for once"Some of these questions
“Hey Isaiah Williams, do you think you’d play better if you didn’t try so hard?”
Come on bro.
I was sitting in the middle of the Michigan section (my old roommate lived in Michigan and got tickets through an MU co-worker). The shock and disbelief around us was exquisite. I also loved the banners on every overpass between the Indiana state line and Champaign dissing Bo and Michigan.
Also - they closed Green Street on Halloween for a block party every year - just super cool that it aligned with the game. It was a great day/night.
Seriously, who was that and what was that, because that wasn't journalism.Some of these questions
“Hey Isaiah Williams, do you think you’d play better if you didn’t try so hard?”
Come on bro.
Mr. Tibbs
- southeast DuPage
Mr Roberts - you are confusing games
The game on Thanksgiving in 2001 was against NW. I was there with wife and the family of 3 kids ages 11, 9,& 7 then . not the ideal way to spend the day , and not near a "sell out" . attendance wise. seeing it was a great year on the field for the boys .
Disappointing crowd actually . and the weather was ok - cloudy but not cold.
We will be fired up after being "disrespected" by the CFP committee. MSU won't be ready to play after all the distractions.
24-0 good guys at the half
We cruise in the 2nd half, MSU scores a TD against our 2nd string making this one a little closer than it really was.
30-13
24-0 good guys at the half
We cruise in the 2nd half, MSU scores a TD against our 2nd string making this one a little closer than it really was.
30-13
rifraf
- Glenarm, IL
I was there, too. Bo shed huge crocodile tears that day. What a great game.
pruman91
- Paducah, Ky
Days of future passed............
Ask not what my Illini can do for me , but what I can do for my Illini ...........
Oops - not confusing games, just replying to the wrong post. I was not at that game against NW, but was at the 1983 Michigan Halloween(ish) game.
Haha, I thought he was talking about the Michigan-OSU game two days later.
Illini92and96
- Austin, TX
Hopefully they do not band together due to the adversity ad instead quit.
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