Wrigleyville Classic Day 5

I just got back from my walk around Wrigley and here is what I saw.

Shefield is closed down and they are making it into Wildcat Way.

Lots of tents with merchandise, food and drinks. They also have a stage and a large tent set up. Good news for those wondering, you can buy beer in Wildcat way, It's still undertermined if you can buy it in the stadium.

Here's walking up to the set of game day. See that little black thing in the sky on the right. that is going to have a camera mounted on it tomorrow to give overhead shots of the fans. It doesn't look like there is going to be a lot of room for fans to cram in there, so if you want to go to GameDay, get there early. I asked a security gaurd if he knew if they were closing down Clark, he said he didn't think they were, so I am unsure where the people will go if they can't be in the McDonalds parking lot.
Here is a picture of the video board not all the way up yet and the bus


Gameday was filming some pieces. All parties were wearing nice pants behind the desk, but Kirk and Desmon were both wearing sneakers.

After they were done shooting, Erin Andrews walked right by me, I said Hi and she said hi in response. I did not take her picture as she was walking towards me cause I thought that would have been rude.




Here's the stadium in all it's purple glory

The Team Trucks were already there. At this point I was walking through a parking lot I cleary was not supposed to be in, it was blocked off in every direction except where I walked in. Some crew guy and I talked for a sec, and then I left. No issues.




Here's a picture of the light trucks I was talking about yesterday



Lastly, the scoreboard has the other Big Ten games listed on it. I tried to get a picture of it, not sure if they really came out.

It's been a fun 5 days writing about Wrigley leading up to the event. Since I am not gaurenteed tickets, I will leave the gameday write up to the man who is going to the game, ACSS Sr Write Mark Fodor.Like I said before, if you got tickets you need to go, because unless they change the outfield, you will not see a game in Wrigley ever again.

Wrigleyville Classic Becomes Backyard Football

It was just annouced that the Illinois vs Northwestern game at Wrigley Field will feature a unique twist. Each team will be heading West and West only. Safety concerns about the right field wall being too close to the east endzone have turned this game into a game of backyard football. Each team will head the same way, which is to say, crazy.

I know I posted yesterday that Ricketts wants to do this every year, but without moving the right field wall, I see no way this game happens again. I hope you have tickets cause this could truely be a once in a lifetime moment.

Wrigleyville Classic Day 4

That's what I saw as I walked Wrigley last night. Pretty cool huh? For the lights, they brought in two big trucks behind the left field wall to light the field. I think cause no football stadium uses lights in the endzones, they needed to bring in some extra for the twilight hours the game will be finishing at.

GameDay finally started setting up. Like Fodor said, they are in the McDonalds Parking lot across Clark from Wrigley Field. As you know i'm planning on heading over to Wrigley at Lunch time to seem some tapings and see what's going on. I'll let you know what I find out when I get back. Ditka said in an interview, he will be at College Gameday. I assuming he will be the celebrity picker.


According to this article, the Rickets want an annual Wrigley Field Football Game.



I had a few thoughts about the game, but not on the game itself.

Sidelines.

As you may or may not know, Northwestern and Illinois will be sharing a sideline this weekend. This has happened many times before and is not really a big deal. The only time I can see this coming into play is at the end of the half/game when a field goal unit would need to run on the field to kick a field goal for a team with no timeouts left.

Seating

I think the best seats for this game will be down the right field line in the upper deck. I am a little intrested to hear about the site lines, given that all the seats face towards home plate.

Beer Sales

I am wondering if they are going to allow Beer to be sold at the game. I know it's a college game, so I am thinking no, but it is Wrigley, the "World's Largest Outdoor Beer Garden." I honestly wouldn't be suprised either way.

7th Inning

I doubt they are going to do a 7th Inning/ End of 3rd Qtr stretch like they do during the baseball season. Still wouldn't suprise me if they did.

Wrigleyville Classic Day 3

That picture was from my run around the stadium last night. There were two new TV trucks in the parking lot. I also looked a the Wrigley scoreboard and it was blank. I hope they fill it up with Big Ten score and National Scores. Heck they already have names for the following teams.

Minnesota
Florida
Washington
Texas
Colorado
Arizona


Here's an interview with Pat Fitzgerald




I also listend to an interview with Erin Andrews yesterday. She said that they will be setting up in front of the main Wrigley Field Marquee. ACSS reporter says it will be in the McDonalds parking lot, but I don't think they will fit there. I think they will start setting up tonight so I will let you know after my tour of the ballpark.

Erin Andrews also said that they will begin taping pieces for ESPN SportsCenter hits between 11-12 on Friday. The broadcast on Saturday begins at 8 on ESPNU with the main show starting on ESPN at 9.

Lastly, she was looking for ideas for good pieces to do about Wrigley. She is already planning on looking into doing features on the following.

Locker Rooms
Scoreboard
Rooftops
Appartment Over Looking the Field
Right Field Wall

If you can think of any more, post them in the comments and I will try and relay them to her. Yes I have an indirect way of doing this.

Wrigleyville Classic Day 2

Many places are discussing how close the right field wall comes to the back of the endzone including PTI



I agree with Wilbon. If the engineers say it's safe, then I trust them. It will be a little obstacle, but I think the players will be able to adjust.

I also heard they will not but putting up nets on the right field side, look for lots of fans hanging around Sheffield waiting for a Field Goal or extra point to be kicked into the street. Heck, I might try to get one.

Also found out that the Wildcats will be taking a bus instead of the "EL". I am a little disappointed in this, but honestly not a big deal. All it means to us fans is we will miss a 30 second clip that shows Northwestern getting to the stadium.

Gameday on ESPNU starts at 8 and then the main show on ESPN starts at 9. I plan on going, not sure when I’ll get there. Still not sure where they will be setting up. I am still thinking they will close down the streets and have it set up in front of the main marquee. Also, Big Ten Network will be having it’s kick off show at Wrigley as well.

My run around the stadium wasn’t very exciting. One of the gates on Waveland was open with a security guard. I asked him what was going on tonight, he said he didn’t know. I am not sure if I believe him, but no lights were on the field, and when I peaked in from Sheffield, I didn’t see any movement. I am going to assume it was just routine maintenance or cleaning. I don’t know how I didn’t notice the marquee turning purple, that was just dumb on me. I don’t think there were any new signs put up, but man, All-State is making sure you know they are sponsoring this game. Their name is everywhere. Lastly, Desmond Clark was at Murphy’s Bleachers for a radio show with 670 with a crowd of maybe 40 people there. I guess everyone has forgotten about him just like the Bears.

More tomorrow.

Wrigleyville Classic

This video is up on ESPN Chicago showing Wrigley getting ready for the game on Saturday. (Full Article here)




I live two blocks away from Wrigley and plan on going around the stadium each night this week and then to GameDay Saturday morning and possibly the game Saturday (from scalpers). When I went by last night, I did notice a lot of purple trim, but I didn't realize the main Wrigley sign had turned purple. I also tried to peek in the gates on Shefield, expecting to see this.





Nope, all I saw was the back of some padding. Also, I was surprised to find out the field is going East and West instead of not north and south like I have seen in old pictures.




I will continue to update as I hear more.

More Info on the Northwestern Wrigley Field Game

This post by ESPN's big ten Blogger Adam Rittenberg lays out a bunch of good and quick information about the upcoming Wrigley Field game.

A couple of highlights

Ticket Allotment: The Cubs receive 5,000 tickets, Illinois receives 3,000 and Northwestern gets the rest (30,000 plus). Looks like tickets might be hard to come by. There will be no additional seating on the field

Northwestern wants to put it's student section and Band in the right field bleachers

Beer will be sold at the game!

The Cubs say the clock on the famous Wrigley Field scoreboard still works for football and will be used Nov. 20. (score board can kind of be seen in picture)






Coach Fitzgerald is said to want his team to take the "EL" from Evanston to Wrigley field. (Roughly 20 min ride).

Illinois vs Northwestern at Wrigley

ESPN Chicago is reporting that the Illinois vs Northwestern game will take place at Wrigley Field on November 20th, 2010.

Notre Dame vs Maryland in Washington D.C. Why Can't Chicago get games like this?

Over 100,000 spectators attended the 1926, Army/Navy Game at Soldier Field



It was announced today that Notre Dame will play Maryland in Landover Maryland at the Redskins Stadium. Now this isn't that huge of news since UND had already announced plans to play there. The thing that jumped out at me in the article was the number of big games being played there.

I already knew about IU vs Penn State (as discussed on ACSS here) but they also are getting Boise State vs Va Tech, Cincinnati vs Va Tech and Army vs Navy.

I know Chicago used to get these types of games played at Soldier Field (I went to a Northwestern vs Oklahoma kickoff classic once), but what happened, why don't we get them anymore?


Chicago has a defacto home team in Northwestern which allows us Chicagoans to go to a game relatively easily. But, what if I don't want to watch NU (sorry Fodor)? I also know that Iowa played NIU at Soldier Field a few seasons ago. I don't want to see Big Ten teams play mid majors. I want to see big name colleges come in like what is happening in Atlanta, Dallas and now DC. We are one of the unofficial homes of the Big Ten, why couldn't we bring some of the elite teams. Offer a big pay-day, and a prime time date. I know there's enough college football fans that there would be no problem selling out the 60K+ seats in Soldier Field.

Or another idea that could work. Instead of making NU vs U of I a one time thing at Wrigley, have Wrigley be the host site for these games. We know the new owner is looking to turn a profit. This is another way to make money on a stadium that would be going unused at the time.

Maybe I'm crazy and maybe it's just me, but I would love to see major college football come to Chicago every year. Maybe you disagree or could care less about college football, but I think this would work in Chicago.

Wrigley Field Still Big Enough to Play Football

The Chicago Tribune is reporting that Wrigley Field is still big enough to safely play football in.Seats have been added since the 1970s when the Bears have last played there. There was concern that these additional seats would not allow football to be safely played at Wrigley anymore. The Safety issue being resolved is good news for Northwestern who has been considering playing a game there. ACSS commented on this when it was first reported. As a resident of Wrigleyville, I would love to see a football game there and would welcome any Northwestern and Illinois (most likely opponent) to come and enjoy the day. I hope I can get tickets.

College Football Scheduling does it again.

One of the topics that has been discussed around Big Ten media days is the possibility of U of Illinois playing Northwestern U at Wrigley Field. As of right now, it does not appear like this will happen. Why is this? Because Northwestern doesn’t want to lose a home game! As I’ve discussed previously here I am a big fan of neutral site games and not a big fan of college scheduling with schools getting 8 home games.

Now this isn’t all Northwesten’s fault. If I understand correctly if this game occurs it would be a home game for Northwestern and they would take the majority of the gate from the game so they would rake in a larger gate at Wrigley then they would at Ryan Field (If you know the logistics better then me, let me know). I do understand though that they don’t want to loose their home crowd. I understand Northwestern is just an “EL” ride away from Wrigley, but are all the NU students going to make that trip? Also, as a proud Sox fan living on the wrong side of town in Wrigleyville, I can tell you there are way more U of I grads around then Northwestern grads and I’m sure they would grab as many tickets as possible. So Northwestern could lose their home field crowd, but I honestly don’t see how this is much different then when Ohio State comes to town and plays in front of a de facto home crowd. Heck, Indiana had a pretty sizeable crowd during the game I went to 2 years ago.

The other thing I don’t get about this game deals with Illinois. Now if I understand this right, Illinois’ coach Ron Zook is the one who is really pushing for this event to happen. But he is also pushing for it to happen as a Northwestern home game so Illinois will not have to give up one of their home games. This, is complete BS. This is why if I’m Northwestern I say no game. Why should Northwestern have to suffer a loss of a home game while U of I sacrifices nothing for something they want to do. Why shouldn’t Wrigley be considered and U of I home game. I know it’s a 2 hour drive away, but Illini basketball has home games in the United Center, just like Michigan State has played in the Palace of Auburn hills in Detroit, and Indiana and Purdue have played in Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. Ok, so what about football? Indiana and Purdue have had home games in the now departed RCA Dome. Iowa and Northwestern have played at Soldier Field. So there is precedent for this to happen.

What I don’t get is why they can’t sign a two year deal. Play in Wrigley back to back seasons with each team losing a home game each year. They can split the gate anyway they want. How does this not make sense.

I for one would really love to see this game played at Wrigley and would try to get tickets if they were affordable. I see no reason why this game should not happen. It’s just frustrating to see teams try to get 8 home games as a reason fun games like this can’t happen.