All Things Illinois 10/25 Road Trip

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BarnBoy

BarnBoy

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Going to road trip down from Michigan and looking at tickets on Stubhub. Which section do you recommend? Is there typically a Gophers/Visitors section?

Good places to park?

Never been to Champaign. Had to look it up on a map.
 

I just bought my ticket on the hub for $16.00. I believe the visitor sections are 208, 209, and 109. I bought in 109 and sat there 2 years ago but with apathy I am hoping to move around and sit by other Gophers. It is homecoming and they have a bye next week. Looking forward to it and hopeful there is lots of maroon and gold in the stands. It is a great road trip and when driving through central illinois coming down from Rockford you are basically out in the middle of nowhere.

Go Gophers !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 

We had a great fan experience two years ago. The Illinois fans were polite and engaging. One fan asked me about the meaning of SKI-U-MAH. Of course, I gave him a history lesson ;-).

You will want to take in tailgating just outside the stadium. They have a nice setup. You can buy food and drinks from vendors and blend in with the Illini fans.

We scalped tickets from a season ticket holder but don't recall what we paid (I went to every away game that year and I easily forget such things). I recall the cost being reasonable and the seats very good around the 40-yard line. They probably will have a lot of seating available which will allow you to move around if you so desire. I enjoyed the Illini fans around us so we stayed put for most of the game.

Regarding parking, we parked for free in a nearby residential neighborhood which was within a mile of the stadium. I noticed a lot of parking near the stadium and if memory serves me right, it was around $10 in several lots.

Hope you have a great time.

Go Gophers!
 

It's Illinois' homecoming, so there will probably be a lot of people around, but not going to the game.
 

I'm making the trip with my Dad and Son...it will be my Son's first road game. Really looking forward to it. We'll probably take in some of Illinois' homecoming festivities on Friday night. It sounds as if there is some sort of pep rally at the site where the parade ends.

Go Gophers!!
 


I'm going too...looking forward to more tips in this thread. Thanks, everyone!
 

BarnBoy said:
Going to road trip down from Michigan and looking at tickets on Stubhub. Which section do you recommend? Is there typically a Gophers/Visitors section?

Good places to park?

Never been to Champaign. Had to look it up on a map.
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Are you planning to tailgate? Hit the bars? Straight to the game? If going to bars, do you want a student-type hangout or more of an older crowd? I have a buddy down there who can probably provide some recommendations.

Edit: You could also try the Illinois board: http://www.illinoisloyalty.com/Forums/forumdisplay.php?f=4
 

GoldenShower said:
Are you planning to tailgate? Hit the bars? Straight to the game? If going to bars, do you want a student-type hangout or more of an older crowd? I have a buddy down there who can probably provide some recommendations.

Edit: You could also try the Illinois board: http://www.illinoisloyalty.com/Forums/forumdisplay.php?f=4
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Thanks! Man, that is a funny group over on that board. The Gophers pre-game thread is classic. They're handling their season with the necessary humor. This was my favorite:

I suspect the game will feel a lot more like the historic Red Grange Michigan game than we would like: Cobb gets to play the part of Grange.
Click to expand...
 

I think two former players should be invited as guests by Minnesota to the Illinois Game. One would be Kent Kitzman, the other would be Gil Fash.
 



Will there be any formal Gopher/GLC get-together either Friday night or Saturday before the game?

Go Gophers!!
 

GoldenShower said:
Are you planning to tailgate? Hit the bars? Straight to the game? If going to bars, do you want a student-type hangout or more of an older crowd? I have a buddy down there who can probably provide some recommendations.

Edit: You could also try the Illinois board: http://www.illinoisloyalty.com/Forums/forumdisplay.php?f=4
Click to expand...

Not sure yet. Option one is taking my very young son for family day. Option 2 is meeting some friends. More curious as to where in the stadium I should look to buy tickets.
 

Just bought in Section 109. Hope that's still the visitors section (a couple of different sites say so).

But a comment on the Illinois board said something like, "Over the last few years the visitors section is really anywhere you want it to be."
 

Any word on any formal Gopher gatherings?

Go Gophers!!
 



109 here also. This is where I sat 2 years ago when we became bowl eligible. This is the visitors section as well as directly above in the second deck. I am hoping to sit by lots of maroon and gold. The forecast looks fantastic.

Go Gophers !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 

Probably going with Sec 109 tickets as well.

We're driving down from Chicago on Saturday morning, has anyone done the drive Chicago -> Champaign on a gameday? Google Maps shows 2 hr 15 mins.

I was either going to go with a ~$30 tailgating pass through StubHub or try and walk from residential parking, but I'd guess that's not as realistic since its homecoming.
 

We bought our tickets in Section 109 also.

This will be our first time to Champaign. We should be arriving around 4pm - just in time for happy hour! What are other people doing Friday night? I've done a little bit of searching online, and it looks like there are some bars/restaurants in an area called "Campustown" just to the west of campus, in the Daniel Street / John Street / Green Street area. I think that's where we will go, but welcome any other suggestions.
 

Looks like a gathering spot for Saturday morning:

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Go Gophers!!
 

The Goal Line Club is having a get together before kickoff on Saturday at Firehaus in Champaign. Information is below.

• Gopher fans are encouraged to stop by the Firehaus prior to the 11:00 a.m. game against Illinois.
• The establishment is located at 708 S 6th St, Champaign, IL 61820. It opens at 8:00 a.m.
• The phone number is 217-344-4171. The website is http://www.firehauschampaign.com/#!home/mainPage.
• The establishment is in Campus Town, not too far from Memorial Stadium at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
• More than likely Goldy and some members of the Spirit Squad will be stopping by to lead Gopher fans in the signing of The Rouser. That formula worked out nicely in Ann Arbor.
 

Pre-game Meeting Place in Champaign

It’s a great time to be a Gopher football fan – the team is playing solid football in the vast majority of all facets of the game.
• Gopher fans, stop by the Firehaus prior to the 11:00 a.m. Homecoming game against Illinois.
• The establishment is located at 708 S 6th St, Champaign, IL 61820. It opens at 8:00 a.m.
• The phone number is 217-344-4171. The website is http://www.firehauschampaign.com/#!home/mainPage.
• The establishment is in Campus Town, not too far from Memorial Stadium at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
• More than likely Goldy and some members of the Spirit Squad will be stopping by to lead Gopher fans in the signing of The Rouser. That formula worked out nicely in Ann Arbor.

See you there!
 

I hate Champaign, IL. This is a great idea.

When I made the trip to see Brewster's bunch win at Memorial Stadium the on-campus atmosphere was horrible. I swore it wasn't worth the trip again. This will make it better and now I'm tempted to make the drive.
 


Replacement Gopher said:
I'm in!!! See you all at the Firehaus for bloody Mary's before the game!!!
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I want to check off Illinois Memorial Stadium off my B10 road trip list although I have avoided it (wand strangely enough Northwestern) for years. I was not all that excited about Indiana at one point, and realized during the 2007 visit in the depths of the Brewster misery that my preconception of Indiana was completely off base, and Bloomington Indiana was a great place to visit. This is probably the year for me to go to Illinois, and ticket prices certainly look good. If I can pull it off I hope to be impressed with central Illinois, and the 1920s era, unique stadium.

On the negative side, the hotel prices on Priceline, Booking.com, Hotwire, ect. have about doubled for the immediate area in two days, with very few rooms remaining. I guess that shift should come as no surprise considering that regardless of football team apathy, it is still homecoming weekend.

I need to get to Chicago either on TH/Friday or on Sunday/ Monday, so if it all comes together, one way or another I am going to the game, with a day or two in Chicago either on the front or back side. I do want to stay at least one night near the stadium though to soak in some Friday night campus bar atmosphere, or post game glory without having to pack up and drive anywhere.


I still need to get to OSU, Purdue, Northwestern and the three newest schools. I like going to Chicago for a 3-4 day weekend, but I like it better during the heat of the summer, even though short Chicago trips fit in well with the goal of knocking Purdue, Northwestern and Illinois off the list.
 

I found some suggestions on the Illinois board:

  • Firehaus is a great place to be! You really cant go wrong in terms of where you eat/drink before the game. The Campustown area is just the area a little northwest of the actual campus, and it has a bunch of great bars. Even though we're bad, there should be a great atmosphere in that area of town because all of the fraternities and sororities "block" together and rent out bars. I think you'll have a great time.
  • Firehaus is pretty cool, that whole campustown area on Green Street is dotted with cheap bars. Depends a bit on what you're looking for. Firehaus has pretty good burgers as well.
  • If you're looking for something a little more upscale, you can walk to downtown Champaign (it's about 0.6 miles from campustown) and hit up the Blind Pig, which has the best beer selection in the area. Seven Saints has the best liquor selection, and Destihl brews their own beer while being the best restaurant I've ever been to anywhere.
  • If you want to hit up a really trashy college bar, KAM'S is your destination.
  • Enjoy the David Cobb show. Whatever cheers you guys have, feel free to do them since our crowd won't be making any noise at all.
  • The ascendance of your once-miserable Gophers has fans of the downtrodden such as ourselves hopeful that we too can compete in games with the right coach.
  • Campus town = Dinkytown for Minnesota. The place to be pre/postgame
    [*]Campustown is decent but as another poster mentioned there are the Greek "blocks". To add on to the other off-campus options there's Jupiters which is right around the corner from the Blind Pig, and if you really feel like going off campus there's Black Dog Smoke and Ale house.
 

oak_street1981 said:
I want to check off Illinois Memorial Stadium off my B10 road trip list although I have avoided it (wand strangely enough Northwestern) for years. I was not all that excited about Indiana at one point, and realized during the 2007 visit in the depths of the Brewster misery that my preconception of Indiana was completely off base, and Bloomington Indiana was a great place to visit. This is probably the year for me to go to Illinois, and ticket prices certainly look good. If I can pull it off I hope to be impressed with central Illinois, and the 1920s era, unique stadium.

On the negative side, the hotel prices on Priceline, Booking.com, Hotwire, ect. have about doubled for the immediate area in two days, with very few rooms remaining. I guess that shift should come as no surprise considering that regardless of football team apathy, it is still homecoming weekend.

I need to get to Chicago either on TH/Friday or on Sunday/ Monday, so if it all comes together, one way or another I am going to the game, with a day or two in Chicago either on the front or back side. I do want to stay at least one night near the stadium though to soak in some Friday night campus bar atmosphere, or post game glory without having to pack up and drive anywhere.


I still need to get to OSU, Purdue, Northwestern and the three newest schools. I like going to Chicago for a 3-4 day weekend, but I like it better during the heat of the summer, even though short Chicago trips fit in well with the goal of knocking Purdue, Northwestern and Illinois off the list.
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I am staying in Bloomington Friday night which is about an hour away but I am not sure of the rates. I made mine awhile ago and got a deal.
 

maroonfive said:
I am staying in Bloomington Friday night which is about an hour away but I am not sure of the rates. I made mine awhile ago and got a deal.
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I was considering staying in Bloomington as well, but since I want to hit up the Green Street Campustown area, and maybe the Downtown district a few blocks to the NW on Friday night and after the game on Saturday I bit the bullet and paid 130 for each night at a two star hotel 2 miles North right by I-74. The good news is that the two tickets on Stubhub were so cheap that some of the sting of overpaying for a dumpy hotel is gone. The other upside is a bus runs every 10 minutes until 2:30AM from that row of hotels up by the interstate, 1.5 miles north of the campus.

I the tickets were a little more than they had to be, since at this late day, I opted for one of the Stubhub downloadable options at $27 per ticket, but I am in the front of the upper deck, so that should be a good view. I remember seeing all the fans move to the lower bowl in the SE corner after the big Jeff Horton Coached win in 2010, so maybe I'll head down there in the 4th Quarter. It should be fun, as this is my first road trip since UNLV and Iowa in 2012.

Not much beats hanging around the Iowa City Ped Mall area on a Big Ten road trip, but the commercial areas near the campus look promising, much like downtown Bloomington Indiana, on Kirkwood Avenue, just outside the "gates".
 

I booked Bloomington Marriott. Decent rates. Got front row seats in 112. 2nd row are only $10. Front row in 110 also available. Look at vivid seats or seat geek. Often better selection than stub hub.
 

We'll be at Firehaus before the game, hoping to see a decent showing of Gopher fans! Sunny and a high in the low 70s, says the latest forecast. Should be fun cheering them on, hopefully to 4-0!
 

Will anyone be checking out the Homecoming festivities on Friday night on campus?
 

Any motorized two wheel enthusiasts out there? Looks like it will be great weather to ride the motorbikes to Champaign and back.
 

Stan said:
Will anyone be checking out the Homecoming festivities on Friday night on campus?
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We may be checking out the Homecoming festivities ... and then "Campustown" after the Homecoming festivities....
 

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