Your first Illini FB game you attended in person

#76      

BWilson25

B
The A
BWilson25
sept 19 1987. Illini v East Carolina

Had a great time as a high school senior looking forward to freshman year !
 
#77      

Johnny Lawrence

Johnny Lawrence
Johnny Lawrence
blackdog said:
11/11/2006 against Purdue. Was visiting over Columbus weekend as a high school senior from Washington DC. Took the guided tour of campus then went to the game after with my grandpa. Totally separate topic but maybe interesting to some here, my grandpa was a season ticket holder (basketball and football both) since he was student in the 1940s (taking a break to serve in WW2) until his death last month at 95. He served on the athletic board of directors for a time during the late 70s through late 80s. He almost never missed a game, until this past season when at 95 he was no longer physically able (only thing stopping him), through the good times or the bad he was Illini through and through. Truly great man. https://business.illinois.edu/news/college/2016/02/in-memoriam-gerald-brighton-accountancy-professor-and-public-servant/

Anyway the game itself was freezing cold, miserable, and we lost. I ended up coming to Illinois anyway and going to as many games as I possibly could with my grandpa and will bleed orange and blue until the day I die.
Click to expand...

This is a great story. It's what makes sports so hard to accept as a business and why even though I understand it I choose ignore it.
 
#78      

bbison

B
bbison
11/4/78 vs. Michigan State. My roommates family had an extra ticket, invited me along. The 59-19 final score makes it seem closer than it really was.

The Moeller years were rough ones... :eek:
 
#79      

dsboyce

dsboyce
Golden, IL
dsboyce
November 11, 2000, when we lost on a late field goal to Ohio St.

It's really sad how many of us saw a loss in our first game.
 
#80      

mdkIllini15

mdkIllini15
mdkIllini15
2003 Illinois @ UCLA in pasadena. We lost 6-3 and missed a field goal in the final moments. It was brutal, but going to a game in the rose bowl was pretty sweet
 
#81      

dsboyce

dsboyce
Golden, IL
dsboyce
blackdog said:
11/11/2006 against Purdue. Was visiting over Columbus weekend as a high school senior from Washington DC. Took the guided tour of campus then went to the game after with my grandpa. Totally separate topic but maybe interesting to some here, my grandpa was a season ticket holder (basketball and football both) since he was student in the 1940s (taking a break to serve in WW2) until his death last month at 95. He served on the athletic board of directors for a time during the late 70s through late 80s. He almost never missed a game, until this past season when at 95 he was no longer physically able (only thing stopping him), through the good times or the bad he was Illini through and through. Truly great man. https://business.illinois.edu/news/...ton-accountancy-professor-and-public-servant/

Anyway the game itself was freezing cold, miserable, and we lost. I ended up coming to Illinois anyway and going to as many games as I possibly could with my grandpa and will bleed orange and blue until the day I die.
Click to expand...


Thank you for sharing this. I also had my Illini fandom passed down to me by my grandpa. He fell in love with Illini sports in the early 50's while stationed at Chanute AFB. For many years my grandparents had season tickets to both football and basketball. They were in attendance at the 1984 Rose Bowl, the 1985 Peach Bowl and the 1989 Final Four.

My grandpa passed away in 1999. When we beat Louisville to reach the 2005 title game, I thought of him and cried. I wish he could be here now to see the excitement surrounding the football program.
 
#82      

DrewD007

DrewD007
Woodridge, IL
DrewD007
This inspired me to not do work and look up my record at Illini games. They're 25-26 overall and 25-23 in games at Memorial Stadium when I attend.
 
#83      

Stevegarbs

Stevegarbs
Mokena, IL
Stevegarbs
Chilliniwek said:
I was at the Pitt game in 82 as well. I actually felt like the stadium swayed a bit at one point, the crowd was so intense. But then, Eason threw the interception that totally changed the outcome. The crowd went utterly silent as that big lineman ran 95 yards for a td. All you could hear was the Pitt sideline going crazy. Here's a link.

http://www.nytimes.com/1982/09/26/sports/pitt-overcomes-illinois-by-20-3.html
Click to expand...


c07347a157ce4539e6c976c0c6157581.jpg


Now that brings back a difficult memory from the east balcony. Felt like I could get down there and tackle him he was running so slow.
 
#84      

KBLEE

KBLEE
Montgomery, IL
KBLEE
My first game was the 16-10 loss to Michigan in 1982. I remember my 9 year old self watching as the Illini got to the goal line with a chance to win...and then extreme disappointment.

Thanks, OP, for making me re-watch this:

[YOUTUBE]WGlNrZVrG2s[/YOUTUBE]
 
#86      

Illinois88

Illinois88
United States
Illinois88
September 4, 2004

Illinois (52) v Florida A&M (13)

First college football game for my entire family in attendance; my brother was a freshman at the time, and was a member of the Marching Illini. My mom unknowingly wore the opposing team's color.
 
#88      

ilphotog

ilphotog
The camera never lies
Champaign
ilphotog
blmillini said:
Wasn't it raining at that game? It was a fun one if I remember correctly.
Click to expand...

Yes If I remember it hit right at halftime, severe storm. It felt like the temp drop 20-30 degrees in the 2nd half. A lot of people left and went to their cars. Being 17 and stupid I stayed out in the rain. Watched the 2nd half down on the field, there was really no one around to stop me.
 
#89      

UIUC1867

UIUC1867
Christian County, IL
UIUC1867
KBLEE said:
My first game was the 16-10 loss to Michigan in 1982. I remember my 9 year old self watching as the Illini got to the goal line with a chance to win...and then extreme disappointment.

Thanks, OP, for making me re-watch this:

[YOUTUBE]WGlNrZVrG2s[/YOUTUBE]
Click to expand...

Hey, don't blame me! You chose to re-watch this. :cool:
 
#90      

blmillini

B
Bloomington, IL
blmillini
ilphotog said:
Yes If I remember it hit right at halftime, severe storm. It felt like the temp drop 20-30 degrees in the 2nd half. A lot of people left and went to their cars. Being 17 and stupid I stayed out in the rain. Watched the 2nd half down on the field, there was really no one around to stop me.
Click to expand...

I was right there with you! To this day I still won't leave a game early. I'm not young anymore but still must be stupid.
 
#91      

Love My Alma Mater

L
Love My Alma Mater
Centennial Illini said:
You guys are all children. October, 1963. Butkus at ML, Bob Trumpe at TE, Grabowski at FB.

I've seen a lot of Illini football but the fall of 83 was best, It was like basketball 2005 from one end of the state to the other.

In Nov of 83, AD Neil Stoner got a bill from Northwestern for $1,580 to cover the cost of a new goalpost. Illinois students had torn their's down after the game, carried through the streets of Evanston (I saw that) and I heard later tried to throw it in Lake Michigan.

I want JW to get a bill like that some day
Click to expand...

That was my first game., the nu game in Evanston. My first experience with the Illini. The chants of I L L with the resounding I N I still to this day was one of the loudest I have ever heard in person.

63-7 I want to say?
 
Last edited:
#92      

Firet92

F
Gurnee, IL
Firet92
9/18/2010 against NIU. We won 28-22. Best known for RS FR Scheelhaase diving over everyone with no regard for his body.

It was my birthday gift and unofficial visit to UI as I was a senior in high school! I actually asked a girl to homecoming the night before and eagerly awaited a response on the three hour drive there!

(She said yes)
 
#93      

Lake Camelot

L
Lake Camelot
I can't remember that well. But I remember them stomping Dan Marino and Pitt. I also remember stomping Iowa when they were #1 (I think Chuck Long was QB)

Edit: Did we lose that game?(Pitt) I don't remember that. But just read others say we lost. I only remember beating them bad. Oh Well.
 
Last edited:
#94      

18Tango

1
Sacramento, California
18Tango
10 October 1964, my freshman year at Illinois. This was the Homecoming game against patsy Ohio State. I attended a rally on the Quad on Friday where some of the players spoke, including Dick Butkus (it was his senior year). He implored all of us to come to the game on Saturday because he said the previous year when they played in Columbus, the crowd was so large and so loud that they "scared the, well, they scared something out of my pants." That's an approximate quote, but close. I went to the game the next day and Illinois lost 26-0.
I have always wondered over the past 52 years whether my becoming a never-say-die Illinois football fan has been the cause of their long football decline. :(
But now it is a new day; our long night has ended.
In the future there will be many fine football players, professional and otherwise, who will be proud to say "I played for Lovie Smith at Illinois."
:chief: WeWillWin. Illini.
 
#96      

Chilliniwek

Chilliniwek
Chicagoland
Chilliniwek
Lake Camelot said:
I can't remember that well. But I remember them stomping Dan Marino and Pitt. I also remember stomping Iowa when they were #1 (I think Chuck Long was QB)

Edit: Did we lose that game?(Pitt) I don't remember that. But just read others say we lost. I only remember beating them bad. Oh Well.
Click to expand...

Go back to post # 83, it's all there.
 
#97      

Mitzibar

M
Mitzibar
November 20, 1971: UI beat Iowa 31-0 at Memorial in the last game of the season. It wrapped up an odd season where UIUC lost their first 6; then won their last 5, finishing 5-6 for the season under Bob Blackman. My uncle had earned an MBA at UI in the late-1950s and was CRAZY about UIUC sports. He took me to the game for my 9th birthday. I went absolutely crazy watching Mike Wells and Garvin Roberson. Later, my aunt hand-made me an orange and blue "jersey" with Wells' number on it (12 I believe it was?), which she gave to me at Christmas in 1972. I can't really remember that far back vividly, but I do remember the excitement of the crowd, the atmosphere at Memorial Stadium, and the overall thrill of seeing such a place that seemed so HUGE at the time. My wife and I had season basketball tickets for about 15 years in the 80s and 90s. In the 80's, 90s, and 00's I earned 4 degrees at UIUC, 2 undergrad and 2 graduate, including a PhD. I used to park at the shuttle lot at Assembly Hall and walk into campus every morning and walked right past that beautiful stadium, and my mind always flashed back to that crisp autumnal day in 1971. My love affair with all things UIUC began on that day and has never ebbed / waned in the slightest. Win or lose, they are MY Illini :)!!!
 
#98      

Serious Late

Serious Late
Peoria via Denver via Ann Arbor via Albuquerque vi
Serious Late
I haven't seen anyone mention my first game yet...

[YOUTUBE]a0rDz09tabQ[/YOUTUBE]

What. A. Game. I still think that 3rd down pass to White was good. I was a freshman at EIU, while my future wife was a freshman at U of I. That game (partially) contributed to my ultimate transfer to U of I and a degree that has proven more valuable than any individual game could ever hope to provide.

Unfortunately, during my time at U of I, this is the game I will always remember:

[YOUTUBE]MT551SofU2I[/YOUTUBE]

Yuck. 2005 vs. PSU has been mentioned already on here, I just remember bringing in a cavalry of friends from Peoria and EIU, only to get so blasted by halftime, I ended up being carried home and passing out before 10 pm. Hope all my visitors had a good time that weekend...
 
#99      

BZuppke

BZuppke
Plainfield
BZuppke
1982 Pitt game. Eason had an off game. That team finished in 4th place in B1G and went to the Liberty Bowl in Bear's last game with Alabama. Fun time in Memphis.