Pregame: Illinois vs Eastern Illinois, Thursday, August 29th, 8:00pm CT, BTN

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#126      
Fighter of the Nightman
BashCtIllini said:
Agree, some feel that fans owe it to the team to show up. I see it as quite the opposite, you owe it to me to put a product on the field I want to spend a lot of money to see.

There is no seat in the house even close to as good as watching at home. You can be on the 50 yard line, perfect amount of rows back, but at home, my view is always right on the action. I get replays, I get slow mo, I don't have to wait in line for a disgusting bathroom, or pay a ridiculous amount for a beer or snacks.

So if you want me to get up, drive to Champaign and then spend hundreds of my dollars, you are going to need to create an atmosphere that I want to be a part of, and that really starts with winning, and winning a lot.
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I totally understand where you are coming from, and it will ALWAYS be wins on the field that improve the attendance floor everywhere. The only exceptions that have fans show up no matter how bad they are (e.g., Nebraska) only got that way by having DECADES of elite teams before the hard times. To pat ourselves on the back a bit, Illini basketball is in a similar spot, where our attendance remained comparatively stellar even during down years because we had a history of winning that kept more fans showing up than otherwise would have.

The only caveat I will throw in is that the DIA cannot ONLY rely on wins ... because there is only so much you can control there. Illinois should be doing everything possible to turn Memorial Stadium into the Wrigley Field of the Big Ten, where it is just fundamentally a great time to go (and AT LEAST tailgate!) no matter how good the Illini are, at least if the weather is nice. We have made strides in that area, but there is a lot of "atmosphere building" that can still happen before the wins. It might only be good for an extra 2-3k fans each week, but that is incrementally huge.
 
#127      
IlliniInBuckeyeState
Updated Memorial Stadium Sellout Watch with a few days left before kickoff...tickets are NOT moving very quickly since the last update. Thinking somewhere in the ballpark of 45,000 is what gets announced Thursday night.

1724726993962.png
 
#130      
IlliniInBuckeyeState
Quick early preview of next week's Sellout Watch for Kansas...👀 The tracker is currently showing an estimated 53,238 tickets "sold." If you go and look at the tickets site yourself, you'll note way less seats available in the upper rows of the horseshoe and east balcony. Looks like it will be a good crowd.

Is the game really selling that well? It may be selling better than a Thursday night game with an 8pm kick, but no, looks can be deceiving. For example, the top 10 rows of the east balcony are not 100% sold out in every section as they currently appear. So why aren't more of those rows at least showing available for sale like is typical for other games?

1724757287661.png


Not sure if it's possible for them to stack anymore promotions into this week. But there you have it. There are going to be THOUSANDS of tickets given away to this game. I'm alright with that - huge crowd and hopefully a good atmosphere. But my attendance guess is going to be almost blind.
 
#132      
Fighter of the Nightman
IlliniInBuckeyeState said:
Quick early preview of next week's Sellout Watch for Kansas...👀 The tracker is currently showing an estimated 53,238 tickets "sold." If you go and look at the tickets site yourself, you'll note way less seats available in the upper rows of the horseshoe and east balcony. Looks like it will be a good crowd.

Is the game really selling that well? It may be selling better than a Thursday night game with an 8pm kick, but no, looks can be deceiving. For example, the top 10 rows of the east balcony are not 100% sold out in every section as they currently appear. So why aren't more of those rows at least showing available for sale like is typical for other games?

View attachment 36053

Not sure if it's possible for them to stack anymore promotions into this week. But there you have it. There are going to be THOUSANDS of tickets given away to this game. I'm alright with that - huge crowd and hopefully a good atmosphere. But my attendance guess is going to be almost blind.
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Even if you undershoot it a bit, I LOVE to hear this! Due to the number of East Main seats that are "invisible" underneath the East Balcony overhang, we do not need anywhere near a sellout for Memorial Stadium to look absolutely packed. Looking back at past games, it seems 55k or so is the magic number to make it look like we have a great gameday environment. Now, having those 55k actually be loud and engaged ... that is another matter. Our fans should all have to sit down and watch the 2007 Michigan game on YouTube before entering the stadium to be reminded just how rockin' we can get this place when we are into it!!

For reference, these are some non-sellout crowds to show how it looks:

2022: 56,092 vs. Michigan State
(The rest of the stadium is just as full ... visually indistinguishable from a sold out crowd)
Mem Stadium.jpeg


2011: 55,229 vs. Ohio State
ESXSDLqXYAAC70l.jpg



2023: 49,099 vs. Penn State
(You'll notice there are still empty pockets in the corners of the upper deck)
ill-psu-web.jpg


Thus, I conclude the following crowds as far as visuals and the impression of Memorial Stadium as a gameday venue go:
- Under 45k: Flat-out embarrassing.
- 45k to 50k: Meh
- 50k to 53k: Good crowd
- 53k to 55k: Really good crowd
- 55k or more: Pretty much a sellout

Hopefully 50k or more soon becomes the new baseline. We have already seen some great improvement (or old baseline literally seemed to be in the mid-30s...), but we have to keep fielding competitive teams and improving the gameday experience at Memorial Stadium. I can understand a "bad" crowd for EIU on a Thursday night, but it would be disappointing (absent starting off 0-1...) if we cannot get a good environment for a ranked KU team on a Saturday night ... promotions/giveaways or not!
 
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#136      
Fuze
IlliniInBuckeyeState said:
Quick early preview of next week's Sellout Watch for Kansas...👀 The tracker is currently showing an estimated 53,238 tickets "sold." If you go and look at the tickets site yourself, you'll note way less seats available in the upper rows of the horseshoe and east balcony. Looks like it will be a good crowd.

Is the game really selling that well? It may be selling better than a Thursday night game with an 8pm kick, but no, looks can be deceiving. For example, the top 10 rows of the east balcony are not 100% sold out in every section as they currently appear. So why aren't more of those rows at least showing available for sale like is typical for other games?

View attachment 36053

Not sure if it's possible for them to stack anymore promotions into this week. But there you have it. There are going to be THOUSANDS of tickets given away to this game. I'm alright with that - huge crowd and hopefully a good atmosphere. But my attendance guess is going to be almost blind.
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An unfortunate fact about Band Day, they all tend to leave right after halftime more often than not, and that's likely especially true for a night game as opposed to a game day as it's been the last few years. So the stands will be extra packed for them during the first half and halftime, but it'll start thinning out pretty quickly after that
 
#137      
PNWIllini
BashCtIllini said:
Agree, some feel that fans owe it to the team to show up. I see it as quite the opposite, you owe it to me to put a product on the field I want to spend a lot of money to see.

There is no seat in the house even close to as good as watching at home. You can be on the 50 yard line, perfect amount of rows back, but at home, my view is always right on the action. I get replays, I get slow mo, I don't have to wait in line for a disgusting bathroom, or pay a ridiculous amount for a beer or snacks.

So if you want me to get up, drive to Champaign and then spend hundreds of my dollars, you are going to need to create an atmosphere that I want to be a part of, and that really starts with winning, and winning a lot.
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Just going to speak up here. I grew up in CU and went to games in Illinois all my younger life. Chicago as well.

Crowd apathy always irked me but I figured I just was the odd one, being too emotional or too involved. I learned to sit down and shut up and only cheer a little bit when appropriate.

Then I moved to the Pacific Northwest. Lightbulb moment.

The people out here cheer regardless. Team might suck they don’t care. They’re getting loud because they are at the game to cut loose and celebrate. The game action is almost secondary.

Night and day. People out here expect to get loud. They are a running joke with themselves how loud they can get. They just go for it, unashamed.

Something to consider.
 
#138      
Fighter of the Nightman
PNWIllini said:
Just going to speak up here. I grew up in CU and went to games in Illinois all my younger life. Chicago as well.

Crowd apathy always irked me but I figured I just was the odd one, being too emotional or too involved. I learned to sit down and shut up and only cheer a little bit when appropriate.

Then I moved to the Pacific Northwest. Lightbulb moment.

The people out here cheer regardless. Team might suck they don’t care. They’re getting loud because they are at the game to cut loose and celebrate. The game action is almost secondary.

Night and day. People out here expect to get loud. They are a running joke with themselves how loud they can get. They just go for it, unashamed.

Something to consider.
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Whether or not our fans need to be to that level … we need improvement. Our fans appear the least “crazy” for football that I’ve seen in the Big Ten outside of Northwestern. We’re light years better for hoops, but we are not back to our mid-2000s level of being ACTIVE or ROWDY fans even with the success … we often seem to react just to plays rather than influence the momentum ourselves.

I think 2007-2020 traumatized multiple generations of Illini fans to almost adopt being pessimistic and reserved as part of their personalities, unfortunately.
 
#139      
PNWIllini
Fighter of the Nightman said:
Whether or not our fans need to be to that level … we need improvement. Our fans appear the least “crazy” for football that I’ve seen in the Big Ten outside of Northwestern. We’re light years better for hoops, but we are not back to our mid-2000s level of being ACTIVE or ROWDY fans even with the success … we often seem to react just to plays rather than influence the momentum ourselves.

I think 2007-2020 traumatized multiple generations of Illini fans to almost adopt being pessimistic and reserved as part of their personalities, unfortunately.
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I attended some games during the U of Washington’s 0-12 season. Attendance was off about 5000 total and loudness still happened.

I attended games during Seahawks 2-14 season in the 1990s. Kingdome. Loud AF.

Attended some games during the Seahawks 7-9 year in 2010. Loud enough for the Beastquake.

It’s not the record or score that matters if the fans want to get loud. Idk what to tell you. The Midwest in general and Illinois in particular has a crowd noise problem.

I’d leave this world a happy Illini fan if Illinois attendees learned how to cheer to celebrate ourselves; and not wait on the team to do well. That’s how it’s done in the Great Northwest.
 
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#140      
aaeismacgychel
PNWIllini said:
Just going to speak up here. I grew up in CU and went to games in Illinois all my younger life. Chicago as well.

Crowd apathy always irked me but I figured I just was the odd one, being too emotional or too involved. I learned to sit down and shut up and only cheer a little bit when appropriate.

Then I moved to the Pacific Northwest. Lightbulb moment.

The people out here cheer regardless. Team might suck they don’t care. They’re getting loud because they are at the game to cut loose and celebrate. The game action is almost secondary.

Night and day. People out here expect to get loud. They are a running joke with themselves how loud they can get. They just go for it, unashamed.

Something to consider.
Click to expand...
I was on campus from 01 to 06 and had season tickets all 5 years. 2001 was the Sugar Bowl year so fans did get noisy that year though in fairness it still wasn't at the level of schools like Penn State for example. The 2002 night game against OSU that went to overtime had lulls especially in the 1st half, but that whole 2nd half got pretty fevered and was my best football memory from my time there despite the loss. It seemed like the crowd grew after each quarter for that one. And then what followed was a combined 6 wins in 3 years with the stadium getting emptier and emptier with each loss. And to your point, yes, I do vividly remember that Thanksgiving Day game in 2001 where I drove from home back to campus to see us take on Northwestern at 9-1 with a chance at the B10 championship on the line and being told to sit down in the student section no less by crotchety older people in front of a half empty lethargic and apathetic stadium for the most part.

But just when you think maybe you're right, maybe it is the fans, in that same timeframe the basketball fanbase went nuclear. The Orange Krush was loud and imposing, Assembly Hall was the formidable House of 'Paign, a House of Horror to anyone who dared venture inside, that Arizona Elite 8 game where our fanbase rocked Rosemont with a sound louder than a fleet of jet fighters, still the loudest atmosphere I have ever heard for a sporting event. And you realize it's not the fans that's the problem, it's perpetual failure.

Every single time since I've been a kid where we've had a magical season, we followed it up with mediocrity and then extended basement dwelling. We've shot ourselves in the foot over and over and over again. Not only has there not been sustained success, there has barely been any success whatsoever. If you're not a diehard like us, let's be real, what is there even really to cheer for? I guess the Cubs survived but Memorial Stadium isn't Wrigley and Illinois has never really had that lovable loser or plucky underdog moniker. I think the answer is as simple as saying to get Memorial Stadium to sell out you need to give the fans a reason to feel like it matters for them to be there. Where they feel like they'll affect the play, see something amazing, make memories. And to be brutally honest, we haven't done much of that in over 30 years. And it starts with winning with some consistency. How much better does it feel if we go 7-5 last year instead of 5-7? You build on your successes. Make bowl games in back to back to back years. Get a couple 8 win seasons in a row. The fans will come. Memorial Stadium will roar again. We just can't keep going 8+ win season, followed by 5-6 win season, followed by 1-3 win season, followed by another 7 years of sub .500 football, because I just don't see any football team across the country selling out stadiums with that.

Anyways, longwinded, but those are my 2 cents. Just have some semblance of consistence. Just some and the fans will come. That's it. Even at a school like Bama, you go 30 years of averaging 3-4 wins a year, and their stadium will be half empty as well.
 
#143      
LocalChief505
The university has done a terrible job creating an environment that is unique to us and creates a buzz amongst the fans that says dang i gotta experience that in person. The chief used to do that. Now we have no identity.

Red grange race is a step in the right direction.. we have to create a spectacle outside of the game. One that makes one say “bro have been to an illini game lately? Memorial stadium was going nuts. They had the crowd in the palm of their hand.. The team is okay, but the environment is NUTS!”

The students are the most important piece to making that happen. But we do a terrible job making football games the place to be for them.
 
#144      
PNWIllini
aaeismacgychel said:
I was on campus from 01 to 06 and had season tickets all 5 years. 2001 was the Sugar Bowl year so fans did get noisy that year though in fairness it still wasn't at the level of schools like Penn State for example. The 2002 night game against OSU that went to overtime had lulls especially in the 1st half, but that whole 2nd half got pretty fevered and was my best football memory from my time there despite the loss. It seemed like the crowd grew after each quarter for that one. And then what followed was a combined 6 wins in 3 years with the stadium getting emptier and emptier with each loss. And to your point, yes, I do vividly remember that Thanksgiving Day game in 2001 where I drove from home back to campus to see us take on Northwestern at 9-1 with a chance at the B10 championship on the line and being told to sit down in the student section no less by crotchety older people in front of a half empty lethargic and apathetic stadium for the most part.

But just when you think maybe you're right, maybe it is the fans, in that same timeframe the basketball fanbase went nuclear. The Orange Krush was loud and imposing, Assembly Hall was the formidable House of 'Paign, a House of Horror to anyone who dared venture inside, that Arizona Elite 8 game where our fanbase rocked Rosemont with a sound louder than a fleet of jet fighters, still the loudest atmosphere I have ever heard for a sporting event. And you realize it's not the fans that's the problem, it's perpetual failure.

Every single time since I've been a kid where we've had a magical season, we followed it up with mediocrity and then extended basement dwelling. We've shot ourselves in the foot over and over and over again. Not only has there not been sustained success, there has barely been any success whatsoever. If you're not a diehard like us, let's be real, what is there even really to cheer for? I guess the Cubs survived but Memorial Stadium isn't Wrigley and Illinois has never really had that lovable loser or plucky underdog moniker. I think the answer is as simple as saying to get Memorial Stadium to sell out you need to give the fans a reason to feel like it matters for them to be there. Where they feel like they'll affect the play, see something amazing, make memories. And to be brutally honest, we haven't done much of that in over 30 years. And it starts with winning with some consistency. How much better does it feel if we go 7-5 last year instead of 5-7? You build on your successes. Make bowl games in back to back to back years. Get a couple 8 win seasons in a row. The fans will come. Memorial Stadium will roar again. We just can't keep going 8+ win season, followed by 5-6 win season, followed by 1-3 win season, followed by another 7 years of sub .500 football, because I just don't see any football team across the country selling out stadiums with that.

Anyways, longwinded, but those are my 2 cents. Just have some semblance of consistence. Just some and the fans will come. That's it. Even at a school like Bama, you go 30 years of averaging 3-4 wins a year, and their stadium will be half empty as well.
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I keep waiting to see if TacomaIllini will back me up on crowd noise in the Pacific Northwest
 
#145      
PNWIllini
aaeismacgychel said:
I was on campus from 01 to 06 and had season tickets all 5 years. 2001 was the Sugar Bowl year so fans did get noisy that year though in fairness it still wasn't at the level of schools like Penn State for example. The 2002 night game against OSU that went to overtime had lulls especially in the 1st half, but that whole 2nd half got pretty fevered and was my best football memory from my time there despite the loss. It seemed like the crowd grew after each quarter for that one. And then what followed was a combined 6 wins in 3 years with the stadium getting emptier and emptier with each loss. And to your point, yes, I do vividly remember that Thanksgiving Day game in 2001 where I drove from home back to campus to see us take on Northwestern at 9-1 with a chance at the B10 championship on the line and being told to sit down in the student section no less by crotchety older people in front of a half empty lethargic and apathetic stadium for the most part.

But just when you think maybe you're right, maybe it is the fans, in that same timeframe the basketball fanbase went nuclear. The Orange Krush was loud and imposing, Assembly Hall was the formidable House of 'Paign, a House of Horror to anyone who dared venture inside, that Arizona Elite 8 game where our fanbase rocked Rosemont with a sound louder than a fleet of jet fighters, still the loudest atmosphere I have ever heard for a sporting event. And you realize it's not the fans that's the problem, it's perpetual failure.

Every single time since I've been a kid where we've had a magical season, we followed it up with mediocrity and then extended basement dwelling. We've shot ourselves in the foot over and over and over again. Not only has there not been sustained success, there has barely been any success whatsoever. If you're not a diehard like us, let's be real, what is there even really to cheer for? I guess the Cubs survived but Memorial Stadium isn't Wrigley and Illinois has never really had that lovable loser or plucky underdog moniker. I think the answer is as simple as saying to get Memorial Stadium to sell out you need to give the fans a reason to feel like it matters for them to be there. Where they feel like they'll affect the play, see something amazing, make memories. And to be brutally honest, we haven't done much of that in over 30 years. And it starts with winning with some consistency. How much better does it feel if we go 7-5 last year instead of 5-7? You build on your successes. Make bowl games in back to back to back years. Get a couple 8 win seasons in a row. The fans will come. Memorial Stadium will roar again. We just can't keep going 8+ win season, followed by 5-6 win season, followed by 1-3 win season, followed by another 7 years of sub .500 football, because I just don't see any football team across the country selling out stadiums with that.

Anyways, longwinded, but those are my 2 cents. Just have some semblance of consistence. Just some and the fans will come. That's it. Even at a school like Bama, you go 30 years of averaging 3-4 wins a year, and their stadium will be half empty as well.
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You’re still demanding the team win before you’re willing to get loud. That’s the problem.

Crowds all over the Pacific Northwest region go to football games expecting they can affect the outcome. 12th Man Penalties. Seahawks and UW, but also Oregon, WSU, ORST, Seattle Sounders soccer (!) all show up at games ready and willing to make as much noise as possible. I’ve been in these crowds. We are cheering ourselves and want our teams to give their all.

Maybe if Illini football fans were screaming from the opening kickoff, the opponent might false start. We do this stuff here. It’s a point of silly pride. Let’s mess with the visiting team.

The last Illini game I went to with my dad in person was around 2021; a non conference game. Moribund crowd, half empty stadium. Made me a bit annoyed. But of course I behaved myself and didn’t rock the boat.

I’m sorry but y’all have to deliver your energy every game win or lose. Or you aren’t worth performing 100% for. Bielema would love to have it. Might mean the difference between a win and a loss.
 
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#146      
Dkayak
PNWIllini said:
You’re still demanding the team win before you’re willing to get loud. That’s the problem.

Crowds all over the Pacific Northwest region go to football games expecting they can affect the outcome. 12th Man Penalties. Seahawks and UW, but also Oregon, WSU, ORST, Seattle Sounders soccer (!) all show up at games ready and willing to make as much noise as possible. I’ve been in these crowds. We are cheering ourselves and want our teams to give their all.

Maybe if Illini football fans were screaming from the opening kickoff, the opponent might false start. We do this stuff here. It’s a point of silly pride. Let’s mess with the visiting team.

The last Illini game I went to with my dad in person was around 2021; a non conference game. Moribund crowd, half empty stadium. Made me a bit annoyed. But of course I behaved myself and didn’t rock the boat.

I’m sorry but y’all have to deliver your energy every game win or lose. Or you aren’t worth performing 100% for. Bielema would love to have it. Might mean the difference between a win and a loss.
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Chicken and egg again. Do wins create excitement or does excitement create wins?

We have generations of jaded fans who’d love to have a reason to create that environment at last. Just like Charlie Brown would love to finally kick the football Luci tees up for him.
 
#147      
aaeismacgychel
PNWIllini said:
You’re still demanding the team win before you’re willing to get loud. That’s the problem.

Crowds all over the Pacific Northwest region go to football games expecting they can affect the outcome. 12th Man Penalties. Seahawks and UW, but also Oregon, WSU, ORST, Seattle Sounders soccer (!) all show up at games ready and willing to make as much noise as possible. I’ve been in these crowds. We are cheering ourselves and want our teams to give their all.

Maybe if Illini football fans were screaming from the opening kickoff, the opponent might false start. We do this stuff here. It’s a point of silly pride. Let’s mess with the visiting team.

The last Illini game I went to with my dad in person was around 2021; a non conference game. Moribund crowd, half empty stadium. Made me a bit annoyed. But of course I behaved myself and didn’t rock the boat.

I’m sorry but y’all have to deliver your energy every game win or lose. Or you aren’t worth performing 100% for. Bielema would love to have it. Might mean the difference between a win and a loss.
Click to expand...

I said absolutely no such thing. Those that are still diehards are willing to get loud from kickoff and cheer, myself included. That's not the problem. The problem is that the general public and people new to Illinois football (and by new I mean under the age of 35 at this point) have seen 1 winning regular season in the past 16 years and 2 in the past 22! They haven't witnessed back to back winning regular seasons since 1988-1990! What I'm saying is that it's an extremely tall ask for your normal John Q public fans to fill a stadium up and get rowdy game in and game out when a team has a winning season only once every 10 years. Now let's talk about your examples:

Seattle Seahawks:
-1 non-winning regular seasons since 2012 (Illinois has had 11 in that same time period)
-The last time the Seahawks had 3 consecutive sub .500 seasons was '92-'94
--In that '94 season, the Seahawks attendance figures the final 4 homegames (66.0k capacity) were: 37.5k, 54.1k, 39.6k, 53.3k: avg. 69.9% capacity
--Interestingly, Seattle for how vaunted you say their fans are had difficulty showing up and being loud when their team was mired in mediocrity

Washington Huskies:
-2 non-winning regular seasons since 2010 (Illinois has had 13 in that same time period)
-Washington had 6 sub .500 seasons from '04 to '09. During that time though, their attendance was still extremely good (70.1k capacity): last 4 were 59.7k, 57.0k, 70.4k, 64.0k: avg. 89.5% capacity

Oregon Ducks:
-1 non-winning regular seasons since 2005
-No consecutive sub .500 seasons since 1986
- No point in comparing, they're not us

Washington State and Oregon State both are at least a little more comparable record wise to us although they both have had far more recent success (WSU with 3 non-winning regular seasons since 2015, though OSU with 7 consecutive losing seasons from 2014-2020 is our most comparable team). The problem is that their stadiums are basically half the size of ours so any comparison attendance wise is somewhat apples and oranges. WSU did have significant issues filling their stadium during their lean years despite it only having a capacity of 33,000. OSU was better, mainly in the 80% capacity area but they only hold 35.5k.

So overall, I know this may be surprising, but there does seem to be a fairly strong correlation between winning and attendance. You win, more people come and get loud. You lose for 30 years, it's a much harder ask. Washington is an interesting case that does suggest they have an extremely loyal fanbase, but when you consider that the Seahawks, Huskies, and Ducks had a combined total of 4 non-winning regular seasons in the same time period that we alone had 11 non-winning regular seasons, it's just a tough comparison.
 
#149      
aaeismacgychel
Fighter of the Nightman said:
Whether or not our fans need to be to that level … we need improvement. Our fans appear the least “crazy” for football that I’ve seen in the Big Ten outside of Northwestern. We’re light years better for hoops, but we are not back to our mid-2000s level of being ACTIVE or ROWDY fans even with the success … we often seem to react just to plays rather than influence the momentum ourselves.

I think 2007-2020 traumatized multiple generations of Illini fans to almost adopt being pessimistic and reserved as part of their personalities, unfortunately.
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Yeah, the 2000s were a special time to be a fan, and I'm so lucky to have been a student during that era. Seeing both our basketball and football teams as B10 Champions, one playing for a national championship the other in a NYE bowl game that would now be a playoff game, was an amazing time. And our Volleyball and Hockey teams were great watches also. We had a great group of fans led by a truly boisterous Krush. And it is surprising to anyone who knew that era that even in basketball that level of energy and insanity just hasn't come back to those 00s levels

I do think you're right. That 2007-2020 period was very rough. The Krush of the 2000s graduated, and with each passing leadership change and season, eventually it becomes hard to pass on the traditions and fervor if your upperclassmen leaders have never experienced it themselves.

And I think that tracks, as very few fans under 30 realize how crazy the Iowa basketball fans were in the 80s and early 90s and how Carver Hawkeye arena back then was as imposing as Mackey is now or our House of Paign was in the 00s. They were insane back then. Extended losing drove that fanbase into the dirt and I think they too basically lost a generation of fans. And when that happens, you struggle at bridging that gap to the next generation to get them to resemble that same level that once was. Iowa has had recent success and yet they're a shadow of what they were. While they're a sleeping giant, they've been comatose. And I see that as very similar to our football program.

Basically we need a jumpstart. A 4 year period that gets fans to rebelieve. I don't think there's any reason why if we had just a little sustained success we wouldn't be able to rebuild the football fanbase. Make Memorial Stadium shake again. Something that gets students and fans through the door and transform them into diehards.

And one final thing. I have been a diehard Blackhawks fan my entire life. We had some phenomenal teams in the 80s and early 90s and one of the strongest fanbases in the sport back then. But then Wirtz fielded uncompetitive teams for a decade and made them unwatchable (literally, no TV deal) all while unapologetically gutting the team and trading away any player who had a decent season. He nuked the fanbase. Lost a generation of fans, and made even diehards walk away. From sellouts every night for years to barely being able to get 5000 people to show up. But it just goes to show that with a new owner, a new attitude, promise of an actual future, the fans will come back. Hungry, loud, rabid. The Illini fans are there, they're just in hiding. They just need something to believe in. We can get there. It'll be hard but we can still get there
 
#150      
aaeismacgychel
My prediction for this game:
Illinois: 34
EiU: 13

I think EIU against the 27.5pt spread is a decent betting option though it's starting to feel like a a sucker bet. The O/U set at 45.5 seems about as fair as it gets. I wouldn't want to touch that one.
 
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