ADVERTISEMENT

ST renewals

How's tailgating?


As long as you & your party are not trashing the curb lawns of the home you're parked in front-of, tailgating where you park is fine. Just respect the property, that's the bottom line. Only issue with tailgating last season was that the weather wasn't necessarily accommodating approximately 50% of the time - with cold, rain or both putting a damper on the tailgating. That & getting blown-out by 30 points on a home field game isn't very conducive to a post-game party atmosphere.
 
  • Like
Reactions: HappyNUyear
Not sure it is the "professional" parking crew as it is some other factors. The last couple years have been wetter and so some of the standard spaces were cut off as they did not want to destroy the course. But it did have an effect. Second, Legion of VFW or whatever it is cut off the bathrooms which was a benefit particularly for females. Has made the experience less than what it was
Exactly what my wife said too
 
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

OK, OK... I've lurked on this thread long enough and I simply need to respond to one & all on 2020 season tix situation.

First off, allow me to communicate who I am and my love affair w/ NU football over the years. Having been a former player, I've been a steadfast loyal 'Cat supporter since I graduated in '75; and, simply stated, I've seen it all over those 45 years - from experiencing the transition of a football program fielding competitive teams against quality opposition in the early to mid '70s; to/thru watching NU's administration repeatedly boo-foo the program by reneging/ignoring promised infrastructure upgrades which became the foundation of the Dark Ages starting in '76/'77 which lasted approximately 16 seasons (all the while my beloved team having become the laughing stock of the B1G & CFB at large); thru the purchase of my family homestead property on the SE corner of Eastwood & Livingston in '84 (with the larger-than-life view of Dyche Stadium as a Coliseum-like backdrop to my backyard); to/thru the miraculous resurrection of a competitive NU football program by St. Barney in NU's '95 & '96 B1G championship seasons, while I worked-out in Nicholet Hall after hours w/ then-strength coach & teammate L. Lilja; to the program's 1st bowl "W" (the 2012 Gator Bowl against Miss St. where a wet-behind-the-ears R-S Frosh QB named Dak Prescott was replaced by highly regarded Junior QB, who promptly threw 4 INTs to 'Cat DBs which iced the win) since NU's storied Rose Bowl victory in '49; to Randy Walker's revival of the Tommy Bowden/Rich Rodriguez Clemson Spread Offense that led to NU's return to B1G champion in 2000; to the transition of the program to newbie HC Pat Fitz after the sudden death of Randy Walker in 2006, where-upon the former 1st Team All American LB established NU football as a competitive force to be reckoned-with over the last 14 seasons.

What I've observed over Dr. Jim Philips' tenure as AD is his near obsessive desire & focus to mold the NU football program into a perennial national collegiate pigskin power. It's a lofty & daunting goal to say the least, especially for a private institution of higher learning, and one that I fully embrace - although with some reluctance finance-wise. The underlying foundation of that upward mobility effort regarding NU's football program is the need, no the "requirement," to feed that money-hungry beast/cash cow via revenue enhancement tactics - tactics which are an absolute bottom-line necessity within every Big Dog NCAA Division 1A football program to remain an active participant/member of the "Big Dog" fraternity (which is composed of approximately the top 20+ CFB programs nationwide). One cannot get away with "business as usual" revenue tactics because if you aren't pressing the upward mobility revenue envelope among your support infrastructure participants, then you are falling behind into the 2nd Tier group of CFB programs. It's a tough call; but all the same, it's an unwavering 2020 reality, folks... Period... End of Story. And Dr. Philips has made (and keeps making) the tough decisions/choices to keep NU among that Upper Echelon fraternity of CFB programs - choices which include creative revenue tactics like annual "donations" for parking privileges, Wildcat Den seating & soon-to-be enacted preferred home stands seating (between the 40 yard lines - which by any other moniker can be categorized as Personal Seat Licenses or PSL's).

Now, for us long-standing pigskin supporters, these moves might smack of "gouging" and quite honestly, it is, although when compared to cash enhancement moves among the BuckNuts, the Pedophile States & Dazed & Blue Horde programs within the B1G, NU's pricing structure for similar $$$-generation vehicles is comparably MUCH less - but, most certainly, it's more than what most Wildcat Nation members have been used-to in past seasons. Yet when compared to the Abalama's, the Georgia's, the Clemson's, the LSU's, the Texas', the OKie's, the USC's and most of all, the Noted Dames' (UGH!!!), the relative pricing structures are "almost" negligible. (Example: Noted Dames near stadium parking "donations" start at $550 and go up from there - per game, per opponent.) However, NU supporters' general perspective on such "gouging" is based on seasons past - and that's where the recent protests start. True, these latest NU revenue enhancement moves have not been seen or have been reduced (sometimes substantially) in the past... but that's just the point - those seasons are most definitely "In The Past" and that relative "cost savings" genie isn't ever gonna be stuffed back into the lamp folks - so you can just "fuggetaboutit.") And during seasons when the on-field pigskin product is diminished heavily, like last season's debacle, those cash-grab decisions appear downright unwarranted and near punitive.

Now for this fall's 2020 pigskin campaign...

It's nothing less than dog-lay... C'Mon Dr. Jim... The Two-Lane Green Slime; the Central Mich Chipmonks; the MaryJane Twerps; the Morgan State "Beltway Bums" & Ill-Annoy as Dyche's Ditch opposition - Gimme a break!!! Then to resurrect the B.S. nostalgia of the Chicago Bears utterly forgettable 50-year home game venue miss-management at the Wrigley "Gummy Bear" Field Dog House against this upcoming season's premier foe, the Wisky Drunkards... That's near irresponsible. (Hint-Hint, Dr. Jim... Da Bears couldn't vacate Gummy Bear Field venue fast enough when the Chicago Park District offered Pappa Bear Halas Sunday rental of Soldier Field in 1971.) And that craptastic 6-game slate at Dyche's Ditch is gonna run me over $300/STH seat? Besides the Nebby & Ill-Annoy grapples, NU should pay me to attend. If there are 15-17K fans in attendance for any of those 4 other games, it would be a minor miracle.

Still, after all that (and my long-winded diatribe), I'm gonna pay the "Cost to be the Boss" for my disposable income. NU's 2020 football program and its current players deserve it. It's what a loyal football supporter does - he/she takes the bad with the good... even if the only good is in the fact that they are putting their money where their heart is. And my blood is still colored Purple!!!

So you don't like the parking pass "donation" thingie... then drive a half hour sooner & park on the streets of surrounding neighborhood or on a fairway of the Par 3 Central Street Golf Course or pony-up $30 buck-oes to park on somebody's lawn. There are choices for where/when to spend your hard-earned cash rather than fork-over $2500 for a Dyche parking lot spot. Besides, I guarantee there isn't gonna be a run on near Dyche's Ditch street parking for the Green Slime, Chipmonks, Twerps or the "Beltway Bums" games. Hell in virtually all home games in 2019 - against Moo U, da BuckNuts, the HogEyes, the Broiler Chickens & the Golden Rodents - I did the street parking thing & survived without paying an extra single cent. You can too in 2020.
Welcome back
 
Btw Evanston is supposedly charging for street parking during game days again and permits will be required. More information forthcoming. I’m looking into the boundaries and so forth. They’re allegedly expanding the area.
 
Last edited:
ADVERTISEMENT