[NU Sports] Congrats Mr. Phillips!

[Tom Maycock]

I'd like to add my congratulations to Phillips and his staff. I too was 
skeptical of the Wrigley idea. I liked it in principle, but only if we were 
playing there in, say, September, with sunshine and ivy on the walls the way 
Wrigley is supposed to be. I was also concerned that the tickets wouldn't sell, 
especially given the prices being charged for many seats. 

However, the impact on attendance this season has been unmistakable, and has 
gone a long way towards making the game day experience much more fun. It was 
really depressing to see all the empty seats last year. Coming off one of the 
best seasons in NU history, it was hard to believe we couldn't get more butts in 
the seats. But it happened, and it's made a big difference. So have the other 
touches: the ramped up team-entrance experience, the practice of honoring 
special members of the NU football family at each game, the "put your hands in 
the air" intros and video. 

And the Wrigley tickets did sell. It still remains to be seen what percentage of 
fans will be in purple, but at this point, I'm optimistic it will be as big a 
home-field advantage as we've had in a long time. 

Also, I didn't take into account the build-up and atmosphere they are planning 
around this game. The pre-game-day activities, the stuff they've got set up for 
the pre-game experience outside the stadium, the posters hanging outside 
Wrigley, and so on. I thought it was really just going to be about the novelty 
of playing a game at Wrigley field, but I see now that Phillips had his sights 
set much higher than that. 

Bringing Gameday to Chicago is just icing on the cake. Sure, Corso is pretty 
heavy on the schtick, but Fowler and the rest of the gang do a good job. This is 
truly a "no such thing as bad publicity" scenario for us. Given that the game is 
only on ESPNU, the fact that the build-up will be on the main network is a huge 
advantage for us. 

The fact that it comes on the heels of a great performance by the team against a 
nationally-ranked foe, also on the national ESPN feed, is icing on the cake. And 
Dan Persa is going to get a lot of well-deserved attention.

Speaking of which: Dan, your seat at the table of NU legends is now reserved for 
you. That was as good as anything I've seen from an NU quarterback. Maybe not 
*better* than some of Kustok's greatest games, but certainly as good as any of 
them. I look forward to another season watching DP work his magic. 

I should also say congrats to the O-line, who proved me wrong. Not a dominating 
performance perhaps, but more than good enough, at least with Persa at the 
controls. Seeing the Iowa D-line gassed and largely ineffective by the last 
drive was sweet.

Tom