Pregame festivities abound for Wrigleyville Classic
Where can Illinois coach Ron Zook sign up for another Allstate Wrigleyville Classic?
“Absolutely, I'd like to do it again,” Zook said. “I think it was something our guys are going to remember for the rest of their lives.”
While Illinois took care of business for 3½ hours in front of a boisterous Wrigley Field sellout crowd, the day-long experience kicked off as early as 4 a.m. for some fans.
That's the time Northwestern students had to catch buses on the Evanston campus if they wanted to have the best spots behind the ESPN College “GameDay” crew, which set up shop across Clark Street from Wrigley Field's marquee.
Hundreds of fans many of them toting clever signs stuck it out in the 40-degree weather until the pregame show closed with Mike Ditka and ESPN analyst Kirk Herbstreit predicting a Northwestern win while Cicero native Lee Corso slapped an Illinois helmet on his head to signify his pick.
While that made for high drama, there were still 3½ hours to kill until kickoff.
There's where Wrigleyville's bar scene, which can't be duplicated anywhere near Ryan Field or Memorial Stadium, came into play as several joints became jammed shortly after 11 a.m.
Then, too, Northwestern's marketing department shut down Sheffield Ave. from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. for the “Wildcat Way” celebration that featured live music, multiple TV screens, multiple ways to purchase beer and people squeezed together as if it were the French Quarter.
Actually, the entire experience was as close to college football Mardi Gras as you can get in this state.
Between the carnival atmosphers outside and the game's unique rules due to Wrigley Field's layout all offensive plays ran toward the west end zone and both teams shared the north sideline, which had each team blocking its signals from the other it seemed worth doing again someday.
“I'm open to anything,” said Northwestern coach Pat Fitzgerald. “Thinking outside the box a little bit and trying to have some fun. It's college football, guys. It should be fun.
“Obviously the outcome of today's game isn't fun, there's no doubt about that. But to get Chicago to embrace college football, I think it was a good first step.”