[NU Sports] Philips proposes Cats to play Illinois at Wrigley

[neonrye at aol.com]

Michael,

Wrigley has more?cachet, for several reasons.? It is a bseball venue, so holding it there makes it more of an "event", from a national coverage and TV perspective.? Outside of? Yankee Stadium (old), Fenway, the Rose Bowl, Lambeau Field, and the LA Coliseum==and I guess I should include the "Big? House", too--? there is no stadium more famous or storied in the country.? And Wrigley ranks at or near the top of that list (now that Yankee Stadium as I knew it is no more).? Soldier Field is up there, also,?but with the landing of the "Spaceship" seating, I don't think it qualifies in the same manner.? Just look what a big deal playing hockey was at the Friendly Confines.

I think Ftz could become even better known from such an event, especially if on an annual basis.? The impact on recruiting would be very positive, if this thing grew into "event" status.

I really love the concept, and salute Phillips for "thinking out of the box"--something I have urged on this List with respect to our hardcourt horrors.? I still say let's go for Kareem Abdul-Jabbar or another NBA Hall of Famer (or at least close to?that status)?who wants to coach at the college level, and has the academic?and coaching "cred" to do so.? Somebody to break the never-ending cycle of defeats and defeatism that is endemic to our hoops program.

Paul


-----Original Message-----
From: Michael Vance <michael.vance at att.net>
To: nwu-sports at tssi.com
Sent: Sat, 17 Jan 2009 1:02 pm
Subject: Re: [NU Sports] Philips proposes Cats to play Illinois at Wrigley


I have to admit, I like the idea of having it at Soldier Field better. It makes it more likely that the Illini might actually agree to make it an every-year thing, like the Red River Shootout and the Cocktail Party, if they don't have to give up as much in ticket sales by moving a home game. (Soldier Field holds 61,500 compared to Memorial's 62,872.) You can also still tailgate at Soldier Field. Hitting the bars in Wrigleyville before or after wouldn't be a bad substitute, but you have to compete with the regular Saturday sports crowd for that. Of course, the Bears would probably nix the idea because of the wear and tear on the turf, but economically and in terms of the total game-day atmosphere, it would be the better choice.?
?
That gives me the opportunity to ask a question that I've always wondered about: How do Texas and Oklahoma (or Florida and Georgia or whoever else does something similar) handle season ticket sales for the game? Does whichever team is designated as "home" in a given year get first dibs to allocate tickets to their season ticket holders? Or do they have some other system where they tickets get allocated the same way every year? The Cotton Bowl (92,200) holds slightly less than Royal-Texas Memorial (94,113) and about 10,000 more than Gaylord-Oklahoma Memorial (82,112). Jacksonville Municipal (76,867), while one of the largest stadiums in the NFL, holds significantly less than both Ben Hill Griffin (88,548) and Sanford (92,746). Obviously, for those two series, not every season ticket holder can be accommodated. Does anyone know how they do it??
?
(BTW, all stats from Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_stadiums_by_capacity)?
?
-Michael?
?
neonrye at aol.com wrote:?
> If the Illini don't want to do it, screw 'em.? I think Phillips (who struck me as a "go-getter" when I met him at NU Alumni Club of NY Sports Night last Summer) is really on to something.? Although I love the "Red River" analogy, to make it a How about some of these other possibilities:?
>?
> NU-ND (Revive that old rivalry, now that we have a good chance to win--and Fitz has good karma vs. the Irish)?
> NU-Stanford?or NU-Vandy or NU-Rice?(The "SAT Bowl").? We have played Duke a lot lately, so I'll leave them out of the mix..?
> NU-Missouri (Develop a new rivalry after a great Alamo Bowl match-up).? And Mizzou is close enough to send plenty of fans.?
> NU-Army (Best shot for a "W" vs. a service academy).? I saw us play at West Point several years back, so I know we have some history with the Black Knights.?
> NU--Florida (I can dream, can't I?:-))?
>?
> Paul Levinson?
>?
>?
>?
> -----Original Message-----?
> From: Dennis W. Brandt <tbng at comcast.net>?
> To: nwu-sports at tssi.com?
> Sent: Sat, 17 Jan 2009 11:09 am?
> Subject: Re: [NU Sports] Philips proposes Cats to play Illinois at Wrigley?
>?
>?
> >> Of course we would have to schedule the game in november to avoid the > obvious risk of the Cubs being in the World Series??
>> > ??
> The way MLB is going, they'll still be playing the World Series in November. They darn near did this year, and the upcoming season starts a week later. ??
> _______________________________________________??
> nwu-sports site list??
> nwu-sports at tssi.com??
> http://romaine.tssi.com/mailman/listinfo/nwu-sports??
>?
> _______________________________________________?
> nwu-sports site list?
> nwu-sports at tssi.com?
> http://romaine.tssi.com/mailman/listinfo/nwu-sports?
>?
> ?
_______________________________________________?
nwu-sports site list?
nwu-sports at tssi.com?
http://romaine.tssi.com/mailman/listinfo/nwu-sports?