A serious Q about Wrigley

[1830sherman]

...and pardon if it's been addressed in any of the 97 pages of the game thread:

Who decides to play the game at Wrigley? And while I'm at it: Why? That field was an absolute travesty.

Had the game gone into OT, I wonder if they would have had the sense to play every series at the other end of the field.

 

[UpsetAlert]

...and pardon if it's been addressed in any of the 97 pages of the game thread:

Who decides to play the game at Wrigley? And while I'm at it: Why? That field was an absolute travesty.

Had the game gone into OT, I wonder if they would have had the sense to play every series at the other end of the field.

Phillips

 

[FeralFelidae]

It's a gimmick that has gotten old, but I'd rather play as many games in Wrigley as possible instead of Soldier Field while building our new stadium. At least the L drops you off right at the ballpark, which is much better for the students.

 

[phatcat]

It's a gimmick that has gotten old, but I'd rather play as many games in Wrigley as possible instead of Soldier Field while building our new stadium. At least the L drops you off right at the ballpark.

Weirdly enough, if you are driving to the game, Soldier is easier. I live in Wisc and (on weekends) Soldier is 8 minutes closer. Plus there is parking.

Most every conf game will be, effectively, an away game. Visiting fans will outnumber us.

 

[Purple Pile Driver]

Weirdly enough, if you are driving to the game, Soldier is easier. I live in Wisc and (on weekends) Soldier is 8 minutes closer. Plus there is parking.

Most every conf game will be, effectively, an away game. Visiting fans will outnumber us.

Soldier is way better to actually watch the game. I doubt we have many students going to either Wrigley or Soldier. You are right all B1G games are road games the next two years and playing in Soldier is likely to limit the goofs that just want to say they went to Wrigley.

 

[PlowKing2]

I have always hated the Wrigley game. It’s a stupid gimmick with a bad field. I can’t imagine the stadium experience is all that memorable, the TV experience is crap and the sideline logistics seem designed for stupid penalties. I hate it. Also, what’s our record at Wrigley?

 

[JoeWildcat]

I have always hated the Wrigley game. It’s a stupid gimmick with a bad field. I can’t imagine the stadium experience is all that memorable, the TV experience is crap and the sideline logistics seem designed for stupid penalties. I hate it. Also, what’s our record at Wrigley?

0-4. Playing at Wrigley is just stupid and hurts the team.

 

[thewildcat2011]

0-4. Playing at Wrigley is just stupid and hurts the team.

We’re so bad there, we’ve even lost an imaginary game!

 

[FeralFelidae]

We’re so bad there, we’ve even lost an imaginary game!

Iowa was probably the WORST choice in the entire conference if we wanted some semblance of a "neutral" site (much less a home game).

Purdue was a good choice but we absolutely sucked that season.

 

[phatcat]

Iowa was probably the WORST choice in the entire conference if we wanted some semblance of a "neutral" site (much less a home game).

Purdue was a good choice but we absolutely sucked that season.

Good practice for the next 2 years when every home game will be an away game

 

[FeralFelidae]

Good practice for the next 2 years when every home game will be an away game

My top choice is still DeKalb because it's actually easier for me to get to than the other options AND I don't think we'll have that many opposing fans making the trip out there.

 

[Styre]

We’re so bad there, we’ve even lost an imaginary game!

Not imaginary at all - we also played Illinois at Wrigley in 1923. We lost 29-0.

 

[FeralFelidae]

SeetGeek remains an interesting option, too.

 

[phatcat]

My top choice is still DeKalb because it's actually easier for me to get to than the other options AND I don't think we'll have that many opposing fans making the trip out there.

I like this best. Easy in and out. No real attraction for visiting fans. Actual football stadium. Small capacity so maybe a higher ratio of our peeps. Probably cheaper for NU.

 

[Bwm57]

Iowa was probably the WORST choice in the entire conference if we wanted some semblance of a "neutral" site (much less a home game).

Purdue was a good choice but we absolutely sucked that season.

If you wanted a home field environment Rutgers or Maryland would have been a lot better than Purdue.
I was at that game and it was probably 50/50 or 60/40 Purdue fans.

 

[FeralFelidae]

If you wanted a home field environment Rutgers or Maryland would have been a lot better than Purdue.
I was at that game and it was probably 50/50 or 60/40 Purdue fans.

With a horrible NU team with a demoralized fan base. I was at that game too and there were actually several empty seats.

 

[Bwm57]

With a horrible NU team with a demoralized fan base. I was at that game too and there were actually several empty seats.

Agree.
Luckily they served beer.
Possibly the best thing about a game at Wrigley.

 

[PurpleWhiteBoy]

My top choice is still DeKalb because it's actually easier for me to get to than the other options AND I don't think we'll have that many opposing fans making the trip out there.

Loyola Academy has a nice stadium that we could fill with maybe 5000 NU fans - and Fitz is welcome there.

 

[thewildcat2011]

Not imaginary at all - we also played Illinois at Wrigley in 1923. We lost 29-0.

Fair. I think most of the board was in attendance for that one.

 

[techtim72]

A game at NIU would look like a Wednesday night MAC game on TV, except during the day. No thanks.

 

[Eurocat]

I would ask the players. Think of it from their perspective. Play in a stadium wayyyyyy far from capus at a "smaller" league/conference...

Or play in an NFL stadium and have something to tell your kids for the rest of your life?

And also regarding Soldier Field - almost no students will go to DeKalb however I think we could get kids to Soldier since you get get there via El train. "Hey lets go to the game and the hang out downtown afterwards",

Finally, if we are calling ourselves Chicagos Big Ten team, why are we not playing our home games in Chicago' s "official" stadium? Why are we playing in DeKalb?

We might get some new casual fans too, doubtful we will in DeKalb.

 

[FeralFelidae]

I would ask the players. Think of it from their perspective. Play in a stadium wayyyyyy far from capus at a "smaller" league/conference...

Or play in an NFL stadium and have something to tell your kids for the rest of your life?

And also regarding Soldier Field - almost no students will go to DeKalb however I think we could get kids to Soldier since you get get there via El train. "Hey lets go to the game and the hang out downtown afterwards",

Finally, if we are calling ourselves Chicagos Big Ten team, why are we not playing our home games in Chicago' s "official" stadium? Why are we playing in DeKalb?

We might get some new casual fans too, doubtful we will in DeKalb.

All good points. DeKalb is probably the worst option for the students, but I think it should at least be considered for the early non-conference games when the students aren't on campus yet. I don't need to see Miami (OH) or even Dook at Soldier Field and a stadium like that is surely overkill for such a small crowd as those games would attract.

 

[Medill '03]

I would ask the players. Think of it from their perspective. Play in a stadium wayyyyyy far from capus at a "smaller" league/conference...

Or play in an NFL stadium and have something to tell your kids for the rest of your life?

And also regarding Soldier Field - almost no students will go to DeKalb however I think we could get kids to Soldier since you get get there via El train. "Hey lets go to the game and the hang out downtown afterwards",

Finally, if we are calling ourselves Chicagos Big Ten team, why are we not playing our home games in Chicago' s "official" stadium? Why are we playing in DeKalb?

We might get some new casual fans too, doubtful we will in DeKalb.

No student will be talking the El to Soldier. The school would charter buses.

 

[JoeWildcat]

No student will be talking the El to Soldier. The school would charter buses.

I hope it really is plural … more than one bus of student fans.

 

[its_the_sauce]

No student will be talking the El to Soldier. The school would charter buses.

Why not? The Roosevelt/State stop is right there and on the Red Line.

 

[gocatsgo2003]

A game at NIU would look like a Wednesday night MAC game on TV, except during the day. No thanks.

That’s no different than most of our current B1G games. There were MAAYYYBBBEEEE 10,000 people in the stands for the Maryland game.

 

[gocatsgo2003]

I would ask the players. Think of it from their perspective. Play in a stadium wayyyyyy far from capus at a "smaller" league/conference...

Or play in an NFL stadium and have something to tell your kids for the rest of your life?

And also regarding Soldier Field - almost no students will go to DeKalb however I think we could get kids to Soldier since you get get there via El train. "Hey lets go to the game and the hang out downtown afterwards",

Finally, if we are calling ourselves Chicagos Big Ten team, why are we not playing our home games in Chicago' s "official" stadium? Why are we playing in DeKalb?

We might get some new casual fans too, doubtful we will in DeKalb.

Because the Bears and City make it extremely difficult to play there. Far as I understand it, there’s basically a 3- or 5-day “blackout” before every Bears game wherein either entity can forbid another event. That’s a tough thing to manage with simultaneous football schedules.

Much more likely we have a rotation between Soldier Field, Wrigley, and even SeatGeek or, yes, Huskie Stadium.

 

[fcmchi]

An NU ticket agent said to me two weeks ago the rumors he had heard were for conference games to be at Soldier Field and non-conference to be at either Seat Geek or NIU.

 

[NUCat320]

NU managed to create a pretty good (I think) process for hoops student section when interest surged last winter.

I am hopeful that they can figure out a reasonable process to get six or eight or ten or more buses for students wherever NU is playing.

I doubt there will be any fanbase growth as a result, unless NU spends serious resources to engage the hyper local community. (This would be relevant in Bridgeport only, I think.) But, hey, the stadium is getting smaller, so who needs a bigger fanbase.

I am shocked that this is still happening, for what it’s worth. Good for NU and the Ryans.

 

[Styre]

Why not? The Roosevelt/State stop is right there and on the Red Line.

It's as close as the L can get you but it's still about a mile walk to the stadium, and the L trip itself can take well over an hour on a Saturday depending on how long you get stuck waiting at Howard. Certainly doable but requires determination.

An NU ticket agent said to me two weeks ago the rumors he had heard were for conference games to be at Soldier Field and non-conference to be at either Seat Geek or NIU.

A friend was also told the talk was about having the smaller games at SeatGeek and the bigger ones at Soldier and/or Wrigley.

 

[fcmchi]

Wrigley would only be available for games after the first weekend in November, when the World Series is scheduled to end, even if the Cubs aren’t in it.

And that surface was a career ending injury waiting to happen. No más on Wrigley.

 

[NJCat]

I am hopeful that they can figure out a reasonable process to get six or eight or ten or more buses for students wherever NU is playing.

Put a keg on each bus.

 

[NUCat320]

Put a keg on each bus.

I was thinking edibles and a ps5. Kids these days.

 

[Purple Pile Driver]

Put a keg on each bus.

Only way you might fill six of them

 

[SimpsonElmwood]

Wrigley would only be available for games after the first weekend in November, when the World Series is scheduled to end, even if the Cubs aren’t in it.

And that surface was a career ending injury waiting to happen. No más on Wrigley.

I still think the field condition was enough to warrant a different play call on 4th down. There was no way they were getting any push.

 

[No Chores]

Could not agree more.

 

[phatcat]

Seatgeek looks pretty convenient and it's large enough for our lugubrious fanbase.

 

[Purple Pile Driver]

Seatgeek looks pretty convenient and it's large enough for our lugubrious fanbase.

Willing to try this over Wrigley!

 

[evanston09]

No student will be talking the El to Soldier. The school would charter buses.

Why not? The Roosevelt/State stop is right there and on the Red Line.

They would have to leave at like 9 am to reliably get there by an 11 am game time. It’s a 20 minute walk-the cta is the cta. Wrigley you’d have a chance. Soldier field you don’t

 

[Eurocat]

And DeKalb is better?