Not going to be there, but I wouldn't be doing THAT anyway!4:30 pm - Illini Walk - cheer on the Illini team as they walk through Street Fest and enter the stadium
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Not going to be there, but I wouldn't be doing THAT anyway!4:30 pm - Illini Walk - cheer on the Illini team as they walk through Street Fest and enter the stadium
I'll be there in full force.
Might want to think about bringing a jacket as well. 57 projected high with 45 the low. FOOTBALL WEATHER!
That's quite a sports weekend!!Originally Posted by techfreak
Your priorities are all wrong...
If i can get away this weekend I visit Three Floyds on Saturday and then hit Three Floyds and Goose Island on Sunday. And somewhere in between I'm looking for Founder KBS. Will be bringing 4+ gallons of craft beer back to Tejas.
Originally Posted by champion110
I am less angry this morning and ready to get back up on the horse. That girl was a freak last night.
Originally Posted by champion110
In fact, I finally had to tell her to stop over the last weekend, because I was worn out and needed a break.
Good evening from Hannibal, Missouri, 2 days here with Mark Twain history, 1 day in Springfield Illinois on Lincoln history, 1 glorious
Sat seeing DAWG history with another B 10 victory.
I will be there. Will Tech fans be tailgating in a particular area or local sports bar?
On the same token, anyone know where the good restaurants are at in U-C?
Just curious....how big are the home crowds at Illinois football games? Anybody know?
Game on Saturday, Ryder Cup on Friday, Rays at White Sox on Saturday.
Illinois' average attendance last year was 50,708 over 8 games. Their largest attendance was a little over 60K for Michigan. Their smallest attendance was a little over 43K for Western Michigan.
Last week, Illinois drew 45K for Charleston Southern College. I expect a crowd of 48K to 50K when LA Tech comes to town. Definitely not as bad as playing in a large SEC stadium.
HD
Friend in Chicago said maybe 5 to 7,000 would show up for the Tech game if the weather was good. Told him great, cause if the game was in Ruston, Illinois being Yankees would probably draw 1500.
Hey guys, Illini fan here.
Basically, there are three major "entertainment" areas in town.
The stadium is on the south side of campus, there are a couple hotels and restaurants around there (a Houlihans in the I-Hotel near the stadium). Lot of good tailgating territory near the stadium, but not much in the way of commercial areas.
Campus straddles Champaign and Urbana (the quads are all in Urbana, one block west will get you in Champaign).
Campustown is in the middle of campus along Green Street. It's pretty much undergrad central. The bar age is 19... so be warned. Legends, Murphy's and Firehaus are IMO the best places to get a burger, watch a game, and not be completely overwhelmed by teenagers. (If you want the "college dive bar" experience, go to Kams after 10... if you want dance club like place full of teenagers and undergrads, go to Joe's). If you want Chicago Style Pizza go to Papa Dels, really freaking good.
Downtown Champaign is northwest of the stadium, either straight up Neil Street (main road west of the stadium) or through mostly campus-oriented housing up First Street to University then across the railroad tracks. Pretty nice district, gets more of the townie and grad student couple good places to eat (Destihl has good food and brews their own beer, couple other good places around there). Also would recommend Jupiters (pizza, beer, and pool) and or Esquire (good food, popular "townie" place). Several other bars in the area, Brass Rail or Tumble Inn (Stumble out) would be good for more of a dive bar and cheap beer experience. There are two Blind Pigs.. either is a good place to get a beer. one is on on Walnut Street with a bigger space and a huge beer selection. The other brews its own beer and is on Neil Street (usually called "Pig 2" or "Piglet" by locals.
Downtown Urbana is located east of downtown and Campustown, keep going east on Green Street. It's much quieter (good farmers market on Saturday if you're looking for something to grill before the game), but Crane Alley is probably my favorite bar in town. Also has hands down the best place to eat in town which is Black Dog, good beer selection and barbeque. Be prepared for a long wait if you try it, but its good.
Good "traditional" spot is the Illini Inn on Fourth Street, north of the stadium away from CAmpustown a bit... join the Mug Club (I think the membership numbers have to be in the 80-90,000 range now).
Hope you guys have a good time, let me know if you have any specific questions.
I have no idea what to expect this week, there probably weren't much over 30,000 if that in the stands the last two games. The first game had the remnants of Hurricane whatever-it-was (sorry, I keep track of the names) mess things up. Mercifully it didn't rain during the game, but it was raining buckets that morning and later that day. Last weekend was against a horrible opponent.
The horseshoe is all sold out with season tickets... hopefully most of them actually show up this week ($99 for the year, probably 70% full last two games)... with good weather hopefully other ticket sales went well and the students show up... hoping for 50-55k, which might be somewhat optimistic. Anytime we seem to get momentum our fans get kicked in gut (go to rose bowl, followed by 5-7, 3-9... go 6-0 last year, finished 7-6) so it's going to take some work to fill up the bandwagon.
Word of warning, if you have a higher row number in section 209 you might not be seeing a lot of the scoreboard.... you'll get to your seats via the SE tower (ramps lead up through the colonnades into the upper level)
Much thanks! Welcome to the board!
Got my tickets today. We're passing through Memphis on our way there, can anyone recommend a good BBQ spot in town?
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