WIU at Illinois State (10/24/2015)

[letsgonecks]

This has nothing to do with this thread but didn't want to start one just for this.

Anyone watching Fox NFL game day? They just put together a video making fun of the colts horrible "trick" play from last week and one of the commentators said, what are you doing Indianapolis, are you Western Illinois!!!!

Wonder why us and not cool to get a negative shout out, but was funny.

[ST_Lawson]

A friend of mine posted that on facebook the other day. My only guess is that since it was Sunday night, they were trying to get a dig in against NBC Football Night co-host Rodney Harrison. That's the only connection that I'm aware of.

[letsgonecks]

That would make sense.

Now to the game. Like others have said ISU is legit. To bad Roberson's thumb was better or wasn't still at Indiana, to bad Perkins wasn't suspended 2 games or still at OSU, to bad Corwin wasn't ready to come back till next week, to bad Warrum didn't sign with us.

We could have done some things better and had a few more things go our way, but they were the better team. Coprich is the real deal, first back we've faced this year that was getting the few extra yards every carry. Their pressure was great, ours wasn't and gave them plenty of time to hit Warrum, especially with a safety up.

Wish we could have put that last one in and seen what would have happened down six with six left.

[wiu712]

Random Observations from Saturday:

Gas was $2.05 at the Dixie Truck Stop in McLean. It is $2.29 in Macomb.

The Redbird Tent Zone area is on the U-High practice fields. Friday's rain left it very soggy & muddy. That is where the Western Alumni Association tent was located.

The strong, gusty winds played havoc with the tailgaters as things went flying through the air.

The ISU Marching Band now sits in the north end of the west stands. They used to be in the south end zone. The south end zone is now preferred seating (Touchdown Terrace). They do serve alcohol in that area. Tickets are $40. The band's new location made it difficult to hear if you were sitting in the south end of the west stands (where the Western fans were).

There was a "bag checking area" before you entered the stadium. It appeared that the ticket-takers and ushers were all senior citizens.

ISU now has a new video board on the north end which is very nice. There is also an auxiliary score board on the south end.

The older west stands do not have hand rails in the aisles. So it is a challenge for a lot of people to go down those steps.

Elroy's Pub & Grill in downtown Bloomington is a popular spot for after-the-game fans. 16 oz drafts were $1.75. Pitchers were $4.00.

WJBC Radio (1230 AM) is a broadcasting legend in central Illinois. They have extensive radio coverage of ISU football on game days, starting with a long pre-game show. The post game show ran 2.5 hours. And following that, they had a 2 hour show with all of the IHSA Football Playoff Pairings.

[sealhall74]

A couple more observations. The new east stands had quite a few empty seats (weather not favorable enough for the high rollers I guess). The west stands were I believe ALL open/general admission seating. Why they would force a general admission patron into a specific section there is beyond me. If you want a seat in a favorable seating area there, show up early. Is it just me who thinks that half-time should be 20 Minutes MAX Homecoming or no Homecoming? That game lasted 3 hours and 20 minutes. Play reviews are taking too long. Referee has to sometimes run the entire length of field to get to the head phones so he can communicate with replay people. He is already miked up. Why not give him some portable earbuds so he has everything he needs from wherever he is on the field?

[wiu712]

The west stands were I believe ALL open/general admission seating. Why they would force a general admission patron into a specific section there is beyond me. If you want a seat in a favorable seating area there, show up early. Is it just me who thinks that half-time should be 20 Minutes MAX Homecoming or no Homecoming? That game lasted 3 hours and 20 minutes.

You are correct: All of the west side was General Admission. However, the tickets did specify a particular Section. That did cause a "bottleneck" as people were trying to enter.

Saturday's game was actually a bit shorter than our 3 home games which have run 3.5 hours. I attribute most of that to the longer media timeouts.

[wiu712]

Another observation from Saturday:

There is no track around the football field at Illinois State. This brings the stands much closer to the field.

[sealhall74]

Another observation from Saturday:

There is no track around the football field at Illinois State. This brings the stands much closer to the field.

Makes a difference for sure. I also walked in to Horton Field House for first time since Joe Dykstra et. al. faced off against Rick Lamb and Co. back in late 70s/early 80s. The place has seen better days but they had some kids games (including a nice mobile rock climbing wall) going on in there. Nice touch on their part. Not sure if it is true, but Wiki says they still use it for the State Farm Holiday tournament.

Tidbit to chew on. Joe Dystra and Rick Lamb were both drafted by the Phoenix Suns in 1983.

http://www.basketball-reference.com/tea ... tions.html

[ST_Lawson]

Another observation from Saturday:

There is no track around the football field at Illinois State. This brings the stands much closer to the field.

We're actually the only school in the conference that has a track around the field. Eastern is the only other Div. I school in the state that also has a track around their field.

[ST_Lawson]

Not sure if it is true, but Wiki says they still use it for the State Farm Holiday tournament.

Looks like they don't anymore: http://theclassic.org/fanzone/facilities-venues/
They use Illinois Wesleyan's basketball arena, Normal HS, Normal West HS, and the US Cellular Coliseum in Bloomington.