Pregame: Illinois vs Nebraska, Friday, November 6th, 7:00pm CT, FOX

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#202      
Fighter of the Nightman
IlliniRunIn07 said:
I'm not a fan of the idea of the "blue out" (at the very least, could we call it something else?), but will be interesting to see. I can appreciate doing it against a red team, and I can appreciate doing something different, but I just don't think it will work. Like others have alluded to, any smattering of orange in the crowd will be very noticeable. Any red in the crowd will be very noticeable, and it would have disappeared in a sea of orange. Anyway, I hope I'm wrong and it looks cooler than I'm thinking it will. Either way, I don't care if our fanbase collectively decides to wear neon pink, as long as we can secure a bowl bid.
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I'm just going to be super curious to see what it will look like. The pessimist in me says that (A) far too many people will wear something other than navy and (B) our shade of navy is not truly designed to "pop" in a color theme game like this. However, I will retain some hope that it looks really cool, and I am all for trying something slightly different (as long as we don't cash in on "White Out" and "Black Out" trends when we are a school that actually has two "real" / bold team colors).

FWIW, these are the only things I could find that might possibly give us a preview.

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While this was far from a "Blue Out," this old picture of a night game back when a MUCH larger percentage of our crowd wore navy provides an interesting comparison.

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I don't know why this game sticks in my memory so distinctly, but this was an "Operation Blue Out" we did during Weber's final season (IIRC, this upset win vs. a top 10 MSU team was one of our only wins down the stretch of our abysmal finish to the 2012 season). Unfortunately, I think this photo might do a good job of confirming both of my fears, as the navy looks surprisingly "dull" or "normal," and you can see the orange specks very easily. With that said, I feel like the all-navy underneath the lights at a football game might pop a little better, and I am sure our special effects squad will have the lights working overtime!
 
#203      
BZuppke
Interesting how our focus has changed over the decades - Ray Eliot said we are primarily a blue team as the only orange in those days were the helmets. Blackmon brought in orange jerseys and in the 2000s we really started emphasizing orange. Actually Tim Beckman was a big advocate as we are the only team with orange. Even with expansion.
 
#204      
Battle89
illinoistradition said:
Friday games just are not working out at Illinois. I think a big part is how far so many fans have to travel to make it and how late the game finishes. Combine that with $500/night hotel rooms, and people are just not willing to do it. Then toss in 40 degree weather at kickoff, and the crowd is going to be pretty sparse tomorrow. It's unfortunate, but we would have to be 7-1 and ranked to be pulling in a sellout.
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In all the threads about poor attendance, I think the hotel thing does not get enough (bad) credit. We love to carp on our fair weather fans but the hotels horrendous gouging for those that want or need to spend the night is a real turn off.
 
#206      
Marshall_Lucky
In all the threads about poor attendance, I think the hotel thing does not get enough (bad) credit. We love to carp on our fair weather fans but the hotels horrendous gouging for those that want or need to spend the night is a real turn off.
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Not only the insane rates, but the two night minimums. I'd rather not fork over 500 bucks to spend a whole weekend in a hotel that would barely be booked at $49 a night elsewhere. Most of them are really run down, dirty, and just generally unpleasant
 
#208      
Mr. Tibbs
In all the threads about poor attendance, I think the hotel thing does not get enough (bad) credit. We love to carp on our fair weather fans but the hotels horrendous gouging for those that want or need to spend the night is a real turn off.
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whats it up to now for Friday night at your standard decent place ? $400 - $500 ?
 
#210      
Mr. Tibbs
BZuppke said:
Interesting how our focus has changed over the decades - Ray Eliot said we are primarily a blue team as the only orange in those days were the helmets. Blackmon brought in orange jerseys and in the 2000s we really started emphasizing orange. Actually Tim Beckman was a big advocate as we are the only team with orange. Even with expansion.
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nationally ,
among P4 schools its us, Syracuse, Okla St, and Clemson
and you can add Oregon St, UTSA and Bowling Green if you want to include G6. I'm probably forgetting an obscure G6 school
 
#211      
Illini2010-11
Battle89 said:
In all the threads about poor attendance, I think the hotel thing does not get enough (bad) credit. We love to carp on our fair weather fans but the hotels horrendous gouging for those that want or need to spend the night is a real turn off.
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Indeed.

I took the family down (wife and boys of 11 months and 3 yrs) to the home opener this year (Thursday night game). It was a very late game, so we needed a hotel room. Luckily, I was able to snag a pretty good deal for a hotel within 15 minutes walking range of stadium. Hotels throughout Champaign have been sold out for months for Friday night's game (assuming many Nebraska fans booked a long time ago) -- and if there were availabilities, the cost is outrageous. That makes going to this game much less feasible, so I have to skip going to this game.

Unfortunately, these Thursday/Friday night home games are extremely difficult for people to attend who live over 2 hours away.
 
#212      
Dan
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#213      
Fighter of the Nightman
Mr. Tibbs said:
nationally ,
among P4 schools its us, Syracuse, Okla St, and Clemson
and you can add Oregon St, UTSA and Bowling Green if you want to include G6. I'm probably forgetting an obscure G6 school
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Bit of a Virginia and Florida snub there. ;)
 
#214      
Illini-Rule
I remember the Illinois vs Michigan in 1983 I believe. I was a 20 yo college student. I spentvthe night before the gave at my cousins house who was in law school. I woke up to his Michigan roommate playing the Michifan fight song. The team came out pregame in one color to warn up. Went back into the locker room and changed to all blue. The crowd went nuts when they came out in all blue. Hell of game... one of my best Illini Football game memories.
 
#216      
Second place is 1st loser
I know it's a Friday but a bit surprised this isn't a sellout. If we took one of Duke or Purdue I think it would be.
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Agreed. Losing those games took some stream out of the season. Losing to Duke....that's understandable. They're a legitimately good team. Losing to Purdue, especially in the manner we did, was inexcusable. Our program isn't to the point yet where those types of games don't leave a lasting mark. Very few are going to scoop up tickets and make the drive and students have open bars to go to if they want to watch the game. That loss was a major black eye on the season.
 
#217      
IlliniCaboose
Fly Illini Fly! said:
https://twitter.com/x/status/2118403892685774974
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It's kinda bothered me that for the last few games we haven't introduced the honorary captains when they're on the field for the coin toss. Too busy with other BS over the PA. Seems like if you invite these guys to come here and give them an honor like that you could at least give the crowd a chance to cheer for them when they're walking out to midfield.
 
#218      
FloridaMan
In all the threads about poor attendance, I think the hotel thing does not get enough (bad) credit. We love to carp on our fair weather fans but the hotels horrendous gouging for those that want or need to spend the night is a real turn off.
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100% agree. Pure, unadulterated greed by the hotels. I'm not sure why the DIA didn't try to work out something with them long ago. Maybe they have and I just don't know about it? Has contributed greatly to our attendance problem over the years IMO.
 
#222      
Curbelo Fanboy
illinoistradition said:
Friday games just are not working out at Illinois. I think a big part is how far so many fans have to travel to make it and how late the game finishes. Combine that with $500/night hotel rooms, and people are just not willing to do it. Then toss in 40 degree weather at kickoff, and the crowd is going to be pretty sparse tomorrow. It's unfortunate, but we would have to be 7-1 and ranked to be pulling in a sellout.
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At least now the Friday high school games are pretty much done as most playoff games are Saturday afternoons. But prior to late October those Friday games conflict with the local high school teams as well.

And yes the population density around C-U and the fact large portions of the crowd travel 60, 90 minutes and up to go to the games diminishes a Friday evening crowd. If I attend from Springfield, that's a 90 minute drive. If I want to pregame a little with dinner I'm looking at needing to be on the road by 4:00 to have a semi quick dinner before the game. 3:00 if I want to go somewhere for a sit down meal. That basically means taking most of the afternoon off work. Not everyone has the available time to do that. Or has a job where they can just pop out for a half day on Friday.
 
#224      
Fighter of the Nightman
One thing that might work in our favor is probably a more diluted Nebraska fan turnout than in years past. I'm sure there will still be a good contingent as there always is, but our tickets are now slightly more expensive / in higher demand, Nebby fans are not exactly happy with the state of the program, a Friday night vs. Saturday night might cut down on the number willing to travel, etc.
 
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