The News-Gazette.com Weblog

Fourth-and-blog

7 days to 2009 opener

Posted by: Bob Asmussen

Saturday, August 29, 2009 10:53 PM

The Illinois marketing department has all sorts of good ideas. Basketball in the stadium, inexpensive horseshoe season tickets, etc.

But Saturday's Fan Appreciation event won't make the highlight tape.

Instead of the usual mingling on the football field that has been successful in the past, Illinois decided to hold the event inside the Great West Hall. On paper, it sounded like a good idea. Keep the players and fans out of the heat. Let everyone see the fancy new part of the stadium. Make every player and coach available.

Many of the fans seemed happy with the event. But some did not. And when you have Fan Appreciation Day, you want everyone to walk away with a smile on their face.

The good news for Illinois is that it had to turn people away at the door. The bad news for Illinois is that it had to turn people away at the door. If the event had been inside Memorial Stadium, fans would have been able to pick and choose what they did and who they talked to. Also, not having the stadium available took away the fun of having players throw passes to young kids. And isn't that who Fan Appreciation Day is all about.

Hopefully, there will be some long thought put to next year's event and it will go back inside Memorial Stadium.

To read Day 8, click here.