November 18, 201015 yr EVANSTON, Ill. -- The few times Northwestern sophomore Demetrius Fields has taken the L train into Chicago he's closed his eyes and napped until reaching his destination. On Saturday, the Dallas native expects his eyes to remain wide open. Fields and his fellow Wildcats will board the L Saturday morning and depart for the Addison Red Line stop before playing Illinois in the first football game at Wrigley Field since 1970. A sellout crowd of around 40,000 is expected in the inaugural Allstate Wrigleyville Classic. "I'm one of the most oblivious people," Fields said. "I've been downtown maybe a total of four times since I've been here. Maybe I'll stay awake this time and look at the sights when we're going through the city." In recent years, Wrigley Field has hosted concerts and the NHL staged its Winter Classic in 2009 with the Chicago Blackhawks taking on the Detroit Red Wings. But football has been missing since the Chicago Bears moved out following the 1970 season. And it's been an even longer absence for college football. DePaul and St. Louis, two schools that no longer offer the sport, clashed in 1938. Illinois and Northwestern last met at Wrigley Field in 1923, 15 years after the Cubs' last World Series championship. A sight to see for many in the Wrigleyville neighborhood was the painting of the historic Cubs' marquee sign at Clark and Addison. The sign was transformed from its classic red to Northwestern purple.
November 18, 201015 yr Author I read somewhere that they only had enough room to make the endzones 8yrds deep...
November 18, 201015 yr I read somewhere that they only had enough room to make the endzones 8yrds deep... It was incorrect. There are some spots where the walls are very close to the field of play -- five or so yards -- but those spots are heavily padded to protect the players. Whoever wrote the thing you read is just someone looking for reasons to poo-pooh the idea. And it's not like Wrigley hasn't been used for FB before. It was the home of the Bears for decades.
November 18, 201015 yr Author It was incorrect. There are some spots where the walls are very close to the field of play -- five or so yards -- but those spots are heavily padded to protect the players. Whoever wrote the thing you read is just someone looking for reasons to poo-pooh the idea. And it's not like Wrigley hasn't been used for FB before. It was the home of the Bears for decades. I don't believe it was true, you can tell by the picture that they are the standard ten yards...However the field is laid out in a completely different manner than it was when the Bears played at Wrigley. The Bears layout was longways from home plate down the left field line giving a lot more room but a poor view for the fans in right field...
November 18, 201015 yr So do both teams stand on the same side? Yup. Same style they use when they have that bowl game in the SF Giants' park.
November 18, 201015 yr Yup. Same style they use when they have that bowl game in the SF Giants' park. I think they still have a bowl in that stadium. The Packers used to stand on the same side as their opponent when they played their occasional games in Milwaukee, if I'm not mistaken.
November 18, 201015 yr I think they still have a bowl in that stadium. The Packers used to stand on the same side as their opponent when they played their occasional games in Milwaukee, if I'm not mistaken. Yeah, back in the old days of County Stadium. I don't think Milwaukee's hosted a Packers game since the opening of Miller Park.
November 19, 201015 yr Yeah, back in the old days of County Stadium. I don't think Milwaukee's hosted a Packers game since the opening of Miller Park. Seems like they ended the practice in the early '90s, then might have went back for one last go in the late '90s/early '00s. It's definitely been a while. Edit After checking around, the last Packer game in Milwaukee was over Atlanta in 1994.
November 19, 201015 yr Well, at last one thing is sure to happen that Wrigley hasn't seen in quite a while. Hits . I don't care if it is football and one player hitting an opponet. There will be more good hits in this one game than the Cubs get at Wrigley in a season.
November 19, 201015 yr Seems like they ended the practice in the early '90s, then might have went back for one last go in the late '90s/early '00s. It's definitely been a while. Edit After checking around, the last Packer game in Milwaukee was over Atlanta in 1994. I went to every Packer game in Milwaukee County Stadium during the time I lived in Milwaukee, 4 a year. There wasn't more than 2 or 3 yards, if that, behind each end zone. In fact the west end zone butted right up against the right field wall. No padding either.
November 19, 201015 yr Sounds like they will only be using one endzone. Losers walk... :lol: When's the last time this happened? Good move though. NU's coach said he would have had different game plans for each end zone due to the wall being so close.
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.