“One way, or another, I’m gonna find you! I’m gonna git ya git ya one way!” Blondie told us in the early 1980s. One Saturday, late in November of 2010, these words applied to a Big Ten college football game. It was more than a Big Ten league game, it was branded the Wrigleyville Classic, and it actually hosted ESPN College Gameday.
It was an in-state rivalry game as Northwestern “hosted” their arch-rivals, Illinois, and there was only one end zone in use that day. Yes, both sides had to drive towards the west end zone. No one could head towards the east due to safety precautions. How did this happen and why?
Well, we’ll tell you in this edition of the “Let’s Get Weird, Sports” podcast. You can read the write-up of it all over at Hammer and Rails.com
You can listen to the pod at this link. And for a game recap, what we wrote about it at the time, go here and here.
Illinois won, in a massive blowout, and Illini RB Mikel LeShoure broke the school record for single game rushing yards with 330. Here are a couple photos, from the exterior, of the venue that day and the week leading in:
Why are we bringing this up now? Well, in nine days, Northwestern will return to Wrigley Field, and this time they’ll “host” Purdue, in a 11am kickoff on Nov 20.
Here’s more FYIs
Also, if you want to see the layout for what the field will look like for this game, see below:
Another look at Wrigley Field as the finishing touches are made to the ballpark ahead of @NUFBFamily’s game with Purdue on November 20th, which will be 11 years to the day that the park hosted its last football game between Northwestern and Illinois. @WGNNews pic.twitter.com/eW58oToJjQ
— Larry Hawley (@HawleySports) November 10, 2021
Paul M. Banks is the owner/manager of The Bank (TheSportsBank.Net) and author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” as well as “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
He has regularly appeared in WGN, Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune, and co-hosts the After Extra Time podcast. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram.