Comments on: Wrigley Field looks like a pretty terrible place to play a football game

By: Northwestern, Illinois to play in one direction at Wrigley Wrigley Field Football Update | Verified World News

Fri, 19 Nov 2010 19:15:35 +0000

[...] Northwestern, Illinois to play in one direction at Wrigley Northwestern, Illinois to play in one direction at Wrigley The associated press Updated Nov 19, 2010 11:46AM MDT Chicago • Illinois and Northwestern agreed Friday to run every offensive play toward the same end zone in their showdown at Wrigley Field this weekend to avoid the possibility of players running into a padded brick wall at the other end of the field. The surprising announcement came … Read more on The Salt Lake Tribune Wrigley Field looks like a pretty terrible place to play a football game As I mentioned yesterday, they’re tearing up Wrigley Field so Illinois can play Northwestern there on Saturday. I put this under the category of Bad Idea Jeans if for no other reason than — based on the picture in this article in the Chicago Tribune — any receivers who get a ball thrown to them… Read more on NBC Sports: HardballTalk [...]

By: Losers walk: Only one end zone will be in use for the football game in Wrigley Field | HardballTalk

Fri, 19 Nov 2010 17:06:15 +0000

[...] I said earlier this week that, based on the funky alignment of the gridiron and just how close the brick wall was to the end zone, Wrigley Field looked like an awful place to play tomorrow’s Northwestern-Illinois game. I didn’t even know the half of it: Only one end zone will be used at Wrigley Field on Saturday for the Illinois-Northwestern game because of safety concerns, Illinois sports information director Kent Brown said Friday. [...]

By: Cubs chairman pushes plan for state aid – Atlanta Journal Constitution | newzbb.org

Tue, 16 Nov 2010 21:17:08 +0000

[...] marquee goes NU purpleChicago TribuneWrigley Field prepares for Illinois vs. NorthwesternESPNmsnbc.com -The Canadian Press -Centre Daily Timesall 579 news [...]

By: Utley's Hair

Utley's Hair — Tue, 16 Nov 2010 18:12:28 +0000

A lot of planning and variables go into these schedules, so I’m sure something could’ve been tweaked to make it work. Like why did it have to be Wrigley? I understand the whole thing about the history of the Confines and everything, but how often do the Wildcats play at Soldier? Less to do there to get ready for a college football game—and you could make it Iowa, Penn State, Ohio State, Notre Dame, etc.

Publicity stunts like this sometimes make no sense—unless they are planned pretty damn well, which this doesn’t appear to have been planned very well. It d oesn’t look like there will be a whole lot of return on the investment.

By: Kevin S.

Kevin S. — Tue, 16 Nov 2010 17:39:42 +0000

Look at their schedule this year. Iowa always travels well (so they couldn’t give up the extra seats), and Michigan State was homecoming (again, needed the capacity). Further, they couldn’t schedule this until after the World Series anyway (save your Cub futility jokes, please). There just weren’t that many options for teams to bring in.

By: Jonny 5

Jonny 5 — Tue, 16 Nov 2010 17:17:51 +0000

That makes me feel better. After I posted I figured it was temporary for the football team. Duhh.

By: fivetoolmike

fivetoolmike — Tue, 16 Nov 2010 16:51:59 +0000

The marquee gets re-painted every year. The Blackhawks played there and they re-did everything in Blackhawks colors. It’s not a big deal, really.

By: Utley's Hair

Utley's Hair — Tue, 16 Nov 2010 16:36:11 +0000

Maybe they should’ve gotten a team that didn’t suck quite as bad as Illinois to play, so maybe the Wrigley aspect would have pushed the game onto a higher profile viewing on ESPN or something.

By: wonkypenguin

wonkypenguin — Tue, 16 Nov 2010 16:06:29 +0000

Someone might try a Wrigley Leap without wanting to.

By: Kevin S.

Kevin S. — Tue, 16 Nov 2010 16:00:45 +0000

And for the record, this is all about expanding Northwestern athletics’ influence in the Chicago sports scene. We’ve generally had a pretty decent team the past fifteen years, but the Bears continue to sell out while they blow ass, and we can only fill our stadium when OSU, PSU or Wisconsin fans travel.

By: Kevin S.

Kevin S. — Tue, 16 Nov 2010 15:43:15 +0000

Dear Craig,

Screw you.

Sincerely, Northwestern alum.

By: Jonny 5

Jonny 5 — Tue, 16 Nov 2010 15:16:50 +0000

How dare they paint that marquee purple? That’s just taking things too far. The Cubbies at least use red in their uniforms, unless they’re switching up to purple accents??? Did someone’s daughter get involved in design here or what? It’s a historical landmark and it’s getting painted purple? Really?