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Touching all the Bases

Must-see TV

Posted by: Jeff Huth

Friday, August 29, 2008 11:50 AM

Friends of WILL should be receiving the public radio and television station's September magazine - Patterns - in the mail soon, if they haven't already. Illini football fans will want to take note. The cover story (with a cover photo of Red Grange holding his famous No. 77 uniform jersey) is devoted to WILL-TV's upcoming documentary on Memorial Stadium. The home of Fighting Illini football, of course, has been very much in the news for several years due to its massive renovation. The WILL documentary - titled "Memorial Stadium: True Illini Spirit" - is scheduled to premiere at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 9, three days after the rededication of the venerable facility. Having done extensive reporting on the renovation project for The News-Gazette, I'm particularly eager to see the documentary. It's produced by WILL-TV's John Paul (a former WCIA-Channel 3 reporter who, in my opinion, did major market-quality work for that station during his time there) and Denise La Grassa. The current Patterns indicates the documentary will take an extensive look at the construction of Memorial Stadium (and the backstory behind such a massive undertaking). This being a visual medium, it promises plenty of photos and even old film footage in telling the story. Paul and La Grassa also offer recollections from some of the school's most famous football names - including Dick Butkus, J.C. Caroline and Jim Grabowski - on the stadium and what it means to them. And no such documentary, of course, would be complete without a look at the original dedication game in 1924. Patterns states the documentary will offer "new insights" into Red Grange's legendary performance that day against Michigan. If you can't catch the documentary at its premier time, it's scheduled to be repeated on Sept. 11 (7:30 p.m.); Sept. 13 (4:30 p.m.); and Sept. 24 (5:30 p.m.). For Illini fans - and maybe anyone who's ever stepped inside Memorial Stadium - this promises to be Must-See TV.