Just have to get creative. 90% of homes in Champaign County have at least one orange hunting jacket.
Pregame: Illinois vs Michigan State, Saturday, November 5th, 2:30pm CT, BTN
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Go Illini. Let’s beat msu on Saturday. One game at a time.
Very well said.We seem to have caught the perfect sweet spot of him having chilled out a bit after becoming a husband and father and reaching age 50 but losing none of his hunger (literally or figuratively) or his edge.
Challenges still await. They never stop, I don't care if you're Nick Saban or whoever. So much of our success has been driven by players and possibly coaches who will be on to bigger and better things elsewhere sooner rather than later. But the same understanding of and dedication to the process of building a successful football program that got us here is going to be what's needed to sustain it. Keep stacking days.
And its also refreshing to have Josh Whitman as our Athletic Director. I admire his passion and love for Illinois and am thrilled at where things are going with this football program. . Certainly a huge improvement over that bozo Mike Thomas. Just look at this clown.
Good riddance to him & Beckman.
Josh Whitman will be our (UIUC) version of Pat Richter at Wisconsin. Richter hired Barry Alverez, Dick Bennet, Bo Rein, BrettVery well said.
And its also refreshing to have Josh Whitman as our Athletic Director. I admire his passion and love for Illinois and am thrilled at where things are going with this football program. . Certainly a huge improvement over that bozo Mike Thomas. Just look at this clown.
Good riddance to him & Beckman.
Fighter of the Nightman
- Chicago, IL
I have to admit, man ... I love that we are a rare team that has orange within a sports context, but I only wear blue or white Illini gear out and about. Happy to wear orange to a game, but it's not exactly my favorite color outside of sports, haha. Anyway...
I know I talk about this more than most people, but I really hope we can sell the game out! It wouldn't just be a nice gesture to a team that deserves it, and it wouldn't just provide us with a better home field advantage ... it signals to our peers that we are not the "same old Illinois" that is more interested in basketball season this time of year. With that said, I am ecstatic at how relatively quickly our loyal fan base has responded to the success. Since Lovie's first year, our attendance story is quite sad, and understandably so...
2016: 45,635 average. 60,670 high vs. North Carolina. 39,031 low vs. Iowa.
2017: 39,416 average. 43,058 high vs. Nebraska. 30,456 low vs. Northwestern.
2018: 36,151 average. 41,966 high vs. Purdue. 31,898 low vs. Kent State.
2019: 36,587 average. 44,512 high vs. Nebraska. 30,654 low vs. Akron.
--- No fans in 2020, Lovie fired/Bielema hired before 2021 ---
2021: 35,347 average. 41,064 high vs. Nebraska. 27,624 low vs. Northwestern.
So, our average attendance decreased by over TEN THOUSAND in five years, and it decreased between every single year but one ... and even then, when you look at the highs and lows, that was only because of an unusually high attendance vs. Nebraska in 2019, likely because of fans THEY brought. This fan base was so beaten down, that I guess it is only reasonable to expect bad attendance to START 2022. Yes, I know we have had promotions, but the increase has actually been pretty cool...
37,832 vs. Wyoming ... already higher than the average for the last three seasons.
33,669 vs. Virginia ... still not sure what happened here, haha.
37,579 vs. Chattanooga of all teams on a Thursday.
44,910 vs. Iowa ... 4-1 start gets more fans in the building than we have had since 2016.
45,683 vs. Minnesota
57,000+ vs. Michigan State!
As others have said, considering our pathetically small season ticket base, to have 20,000 or more fans hopping on the bandwagon through single-game ticket sales is actually quite impressive. It leaves me fairly optimistic that, should we make one/both, Illini Nation will come out in impressive numbers for both the Big Ten Championship Game and a good bowl game.
The announced attendance will be good this Saturday. Seats maybe a bit less so if the weather is terrible.. but that's something nobody can control
I was just waiting for someone to post about tickets, lol.
Whitman was being deceptive in his little email to Robert when he said 3,000 tickets available to the public. He didn't say 3,000 tickets to a sell-out because they have far more unsold tickets.
They've been playing this game of cat and mouse all season trying to feign low supply thinking that percieved low supply will increase demand, then trickling out new tickets for sale gradually.
Look at the East Main seats which were previously "sold-out" suddenly there are now two entire rows of tickets available at mid-field rows 63 and 64. There are 75 rows in the East Main, that means that they haven't even begun selling tickets for rows 65-75. Same is true for Upper East sections with more rows unsold the further you move towards the end zones.
Not even close to a sell-out this week, just more anti-fan ticket games being played.
Fighter of the Nightman
- Chicago, IL
Point taken, but are those the seats underneath the overhang? Because, if I am being honest, I care more about the perception it creates with our players, peer programs and the national community. If the lower bowl and east balcony look full but there are 5,000 to 6,000 tickets unsold underneath the overhang that nobody can see, I'll consider it a win.
Thanks for finding the film, BZuppke: "Cinderella team of the season." I, too, listened on the radio, though at Grandma's house in Lombard.
I
I hated that Mike thomas went with his Ohio roots with his hires in bball and football. He proceeded to give both Beckman and Groce far too much benefit of the doubt for first time power conference HCs. Ultimately led to the worst concurrent run in Football and Basketball for the beloved. I am only (slightly) mad that this era fell during my undergrad. I got 1 bowl game and one tournament.
It would be one thing if Mike Thomas were only a total failure, a colossal mistake of an AD but was a nice person - but of course he was also one of the biggest douchebags of a human being to ever have walked on the Illinois campus. Total a-hole - the complete package if you will.
I believe they are! Buying tickets throughout the season it seems like the seats under the overhang and upper corners are last to be sold probably for the same reasons you mention.Point taken, but are those the seats underneath the overhang? Because, if I am being honest, I care more about the perception it creates with our players, peer programs and the national community. If the lower bowl and east balcony look full but there are 5,000 to 6,000 tickets unsold underneath the overhang that nobody can see, I'll consider it a win.
Could those be obstructed view seats?
Possibly, but even more reason to sell them for $15 instead of trying to sell them for $75 the few days before a game.
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A little aside -- those seats under the east balcony are a godsend if it rains on Saturday. I have seats in the east balcony but I move underneath the east balcony if it is raining and seats are open.Point taken, but are those the seats underneath the overhang? Because, if I am being honest, I care more about the perception it creates with our players, peer programs and the national community. If the lower bowl and east balcony look full but there are 5,000 to 6,000 tickets unsold underneath the overhang that nobody can see, I'll consider it a win.
BZuppke
- Plainfield
I sit there. Over the upper several rows but not overall
Other than maybe the top row (14), it doesn't. Pack your rain gear.
Keep in mind: they have opened up the restricted view seats, and all of those sold out. They have opened up all seats in the East Balcony, and only about 30 remain (I have watched as they gradually opened more and more). The only section that they may not have opened at this point is, as you and others have pointed out, is under the balcony. Those will likely be the last since they are not visible on TV. Even if those go unsold, they will have sold likely 57-58k tickets for the game. Not too bad given a season ticket holder base of about 23k. Here's hoping the same is true for Purdue!
Top two, maybe three, rows if the rain comes straight down. We are in 227, row 13, and we came in for one of the games and our seats were dry, row 12 was wet.
Fighter of the Nightman
- Chicago, IL
Looking back with hindsight, Mike Thomas was SO destined to be a failure, lol. There is exactly ONE positive thing he did, IMO ... and that is trying to get Illinois to have a "perspective" (vague, I know) closer to a big state school with lots of "T-shirt fans" (like me!) than the "perspective" that I feel RG had, which gave Illinois more of a feel of a prestigious private school whose fans were about 90% alumni or locals and had no ambition to be anything bigger or better as far as athletics go. If that is the only good thing you are bringing to the table AND you are unlikable, you are simply going to piss off the existing donors with your unpleasant shaking up of the status quo AND lose the support of your average fan because your hires suck.
Thankfully, Whitman seems to be the full pacakge.
Well @blackdog …..it looks like rain….I’ll be indoors! Lol
Yup, I was there too. It set my expectations for everything Illini football. Man, has it been a tough 39 years
And MAN, has this year been GREAT!
Very well said.
And its also refreshing to have Josh Whitman as our Athletic Director. I admire his passion and love for Illinois and am thrilled at where things are going with this football program. . Certainly a huge improvement over that bozo Mike Thomas. Just look at this clown.
Good riddance to him & Beckman.
Don't EVER do that again!
blackdog
- Champaign
I just ordered a 4 pack of orange ponchos that should be arriving Thursday. Pregame festivities might be indoors but the game is on!
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