Saturday it is and will be, and in all reality it's not that bad

OK, I give up.

For the past five years now the Elgin-Larkin football game has been played on Saturday.

I still can't get used to it and I still don't think it's right, but I give. It's not gonna change so why keep fighting it?

The days we who graduated in the 70s remember so well are gone. It's a new era and a new society.

And let's face it, it's society that was at the forefront of changing the annual Town Jug battle to Saturday instead of the traditional Friday night. And it's society that has created a crowd of 1,000 at best at the Elgin-Larkin game, a far cry from the 5,000 or so that would pack Memorial Field on Week 9 of the football season in years past, regardless if the Maroons and Royals were 8-0 or 0-8.

A little history. In 2002, the Elgin-Larkin game was played, as it always had been, on Friday night. Unfortunately, that night turned ugly when School District U-46 officials and Elgin police had to break up fights, chase gang-bangers off the premises with pepper spray and, basically, watch the football game become secondary.

After that night, district officials got together and decided to move the game to Saturday. During the day. When crowd control would be easier. And when the crowd would be smaller.

So Saturday's fifth renewal of the Saturday Elgin-Larkin game was really no different than any other the past 5 years. The crowd was small - maybe around 1,000 at best - and the game just did not have the atmosphere of the Elgin-Larkin games I grew up watching on Friday nights.

But I will be the first to agree with Elgin athletic director Art Rohlman and Larkin boss Jim Juliano about one thing: The people attending Saturday's game cared about football and only football for the 3 or 4 hours they spent at Memorial Field.

"Saturday afternoon … it's almost a college atmosphere and I think it's great," said Rohlman who, like Juliano, was not in his current job when the switch was made after the 2002 game. "The true fans are here today. We don't want the people here that just come to play around. We want the true fans."

Rohlman may not say it this way, but I will. The change was made to keep the gang-bangers away from Memorial Field during the Elgin-Larkin game. And while it may keep some other people away that would like to see the game, the move has been successful. I didn't see more than a handful of people at Memorial Saturday who weren't into the game. And with all the violence problems we have in Elgin right now, it was good to see the focus of the Elgin-Larkin game be on what it should be -- football.

The student cheering sections may have been small for schools that each have over 2,000 kids, but they were loud and enthusiastic. They weren't worried about what other activities were going on that had nothing to do with football because Saturday was all about football.

"These kids are all standing up and chanting and cheering and they have been all day. That's what it's about," said Rohlman.

The rivalry remains, too. With five high schools in U-46 now, I wondered if this might be the year that I'd have to write these words: Nobody cares about Elgin-Larkin anymore. It's not. What I saw Saturday was refreshing. People do still care about Elgin-Larkin and that's a positive sign.

"It's such a great rivalry," said Juliano. "Those who really care about the game are here."

And whether it's a thousand or ten thousand, that is truly what matters most.

Jug news: There's no more room on the Town Jug. Larkin's win Saturday etched the Royals' name onto the last available spot on the Jug, the prize the winning school has received in the cross-town rivalry game since 1964.

Time out for a clarification. Elgin and Larkin played football Saturday for the 47th time. The 1962 game was a JV game, as Larkin had no seniors. The 1990 game was a state playoff game and the Jug was not a factor in that game. The Jug didn't exist until 1964. So, to make matters more confusing, Saturday was the 44th time the Jug has been awarded, and the 46th true varsity game.

But to simplify life, we will from here on and forever count the 1962 game in the series total, thus putting it at 30-17 in favor of Larkin after Saturday's Royal victory.

So, there are two questions remaining: 1) What happens to the Jug; and 2) Now what?

First answer: Juliano said no determination had been made as to what will happen to the Jug, so I'll offer the same suggestion I offered a few years ago. The Jug should be kept at Larkin for one year and then be turned over to the Elgin Sports Hall of Fame and placed in the Hall's exhibit at the Elgin Rec Center.

Second answer: Juliano said a new Jug is painted and ready to go for the 2008 game. It's currently in the trophy case at Larkin, courtesy of Larkin art teacher Sean Murray, who made the new Jug in Larkin's pottery room.

The only Jug question that remains now is which school's name will go on the new one first. For that answer, tune into Week 8 of the 2008 football season.