Illinois -7.5 vs NW'ern at Wrigley (ov/un 49.5) 3:30 ET, ESPNU

[Bucklion]

They forgot a few other changes:

• The fire hydrant is out of bounds
• tackle only in the grass, two hand touch on the street.
• The endzone begins at the stop sign and ends at the curb.
• If a ball hits the street light its still in play
• 5 Mississippi rush, 1 blitz every four downs

And the slowest kid with toaster hands has to be all-time center.

 

[THEWOOD]

What a clusterfuck this game has become. They should of never had it at Wrigley in the first place.

 

[scooter1369]

What a clusterfuck this game has become. They should of never had it at Wrigley in the first place.

Should have held it at the school of grammar

 

[FCollinsBuckeye]

The real reason for the fucked-up rules for this one: Steve Bartman has first row tickets in the east endzone.

:p

 

[cjmik_75]

Did they have this problem in 1938 (last time they played a football game at wrigley)? How were they smart enough back then to pull it off and not in November 2010???

Great idea numb nuts! Let's wait until 24 hours till kickoff to announce an obvious problem that should have been addressed in the first five minutes.

 

[colobuck79]

They forgot a few other changes:

• The fire hydrant is out of bounds
• tackle only in the grass, two hand touch on the street.
• The endzone begins at the stop sign and ends at the curb.
• If a ball hits the street light its still in play
• 5 Mississippi rush, 1 blitz every four downs

And Old Man Johnson's car is considered out-of-bounds.

 

[MililaniBuckeye]

So what happens if someone gets an INT/Fumble recovery/safety heading the wrong way?

Are the refs going to whistle the play dead to 'protect' the players before they get near the death zone?

OK if someone recovers a fumble on a kickoff...which fucking end zone do they run to? No one enjoys the promotion of the history of the game more than I do, but if they have to play Ring Around the Fucking Rosey every time someone touches the football, maybe it is a bad idea.

In those instances there's no real safety concern because the player returning the turnover only has to cross the goal line...there's no real danger like there would be if a pass route were being run in/through that end zone.

 

[Buckeyeskickbuttocks]

In those instances there's no real safety concern because the player returning the turnover only has to cross the goal line...there's no real danger like there would be if a pass route were being run in/through that end zone.

True, but there may be an issue with punts. Suppose Illinois is backed up to the 1, has to punt... punt rush will head straight towards that wall. Probably won't be an issue, but it could be.

 

[MililaniBuckeye]

True, but there may be an issue with punts. Suppose Illinois is backed up to the 1, has to punt... punt rush will head straight towards that wall. Probably won't be an issue, but it could be.

Wouldn't be surprised if they already have that covered and it simply wasn't mentioned. Doing the end-of-field swap prior to the punt play would make sense since they have to make the swap anyway, and that way punt rushers on endzone punts would be OK and the punt returner would be running toward the "safe" endzone.

 

[FCollinsBuckeye]

Did they have this problem in 1938 (last time they played a football game at wrigley)? How were they smart enough back then to pull it off and not in November 2010???

I don't think player safety/concussions/liability/etc, etc, were forefront isues in '38.

 

[MolGenBuckeye]

And the slowest kid with toaster hands has to be all-time center.

That's what we did in our neighborhood, and he went on to play for OSU.

 

[scooter1369]

I don't think player safety/concussions/liability/etc, etc, were forefront isues in '38.

Can cincibuck or BB73 confirm this?

 

[FUM4OSU]

Did they have this problem in 1938 (last time they played a football game at wrigley)? How were they smart enough back then to pull it off and not in November 2010???

Great idea numb nuts! Let's wait until 24 hours till kickoff to announce an obvious problem that should have been addressed in the first five minutes.

The last game played at wrigley was 1970 by the Bears when they were building the current soldier field. Since then the stands have gotten bigger, making the room for a playing surface smaller.

 

[Jaxbuck]

I don't think player safety/concussions/liability/etc, etc, were forefront isues in '38.

No kidding.

Hell, in the 70's our parents all drove 400+ HP cars (that did not come with seat belts), no one ever heard of a DUI and the most popular summer time game (Jarts) was essentially cornhole but with 3ft long metal rods with a sharpened point instead of beanbags.

So yeah, 30 years before that I don't think they were real worried about a football player running into a brick wall. In fact I can almost hear my grandfather laughing and saying "how did you run into a brick wall you dumb bastard? Didn't you see it?"

 

[FUM4OSU]

No kidding.

Hell, in the 70's our parents all drove 400+ HP cars (that did not come with seat belts), no one ever heard of a DUI and the most popular summer time game (Jarts) was essentially cornhole but with 3ft long metal rods with a sharpened point instead of beanbags.

So yeah, 30 years before that I don't think they were real worried about a football player running into a brick wall. In fact I can almost hear my grandfather laughing and saying "how did you run into a brick wall you dumb bastard? Didn't you see it?"

It wasn't too long ago that the field goal post were in the middle of the endzone. Talk about a hazard!! :)