2019/20 Illini Men’s Basketball - Final Home Game, Champaign, IL

Though I didn't know it at the time, I had a pretty major weekend very near the start of all the pandemic stuff. I traveled to C-U Friday night, which was Unofficial St. Pat's, then to Indy for one night to visit their cabaret. pretty sweet little weekend, with a drive back to IL on Sunday, as planned. BUT, during the trip, I was offered a ticket at the last Illini Men's basketball game on Sunday night. Hmmmm. What to do, what to do...

I couldn't pass that up! It did mean I would leave after the game and drive back to Chicagoland, but that's only a 2.5 hour drive at that time of night.

So, I did what any true Orange & Blue would do, I accepted the ticket and went to the game. Turns out it was a pretty good one to attend - the last Illini home game for the season and, I'm pretty sure, the last game the Illini men played for the entire season. They beat Purdue in a tight little battle. Even the last seconds were pretty nail-biting.

The stadium had been refreshed since my undergrad and grad days in C-U, so it was nice to see this new space and also see they have the same level of excitement as we did back in the early 2000's.

While our seats were pretty high up, we walked down near the floor after the game, to see what we could see...

They now have a small museum in the ground level of the stadium too. Pretty cool to spend some time here before or after you head to your seats for the games...

Krannert Center for the Performing Arts (50 years), Urbana, IL

As a young man on the campus of a Big10 school, with a summer's worth of time to kill, I found myself gravitating to where a couple friends worked and could get me into their employers multiple shows, either at a reduced price (cha-ching!) or on short notice (they would tell me when tickets were leftover). The place was the Krannert Center for the Performing Arts on the University of Illinois campus in Urbana IL. 

I also happened to graduate from my bachelor's business program a bit "off schedule", in January of 1998 (please, don't do the math). Due to this "Spring Graduation", our ceremony was held in the Krannert Center, the Foellinger Great Hall to be exact. While I'd seen a number of amazing musical performances in this hall, like YoYo Ma & Wynton Marsalis, this was the first and only time I was ever on the stage myself. It felt good... as good as it could have, I guess. My parents and some siblings had come down for the ceremony, marking, I think, the 2nd time they had visited since I started school in C-U. (To their credit, we had many children to take care of, and a new small business to run, so partying with #3 wasn't high on the list of priorities).

Anywho - This post is simply a walk back in time for myself and the friends that I spent many hours with in this space. Check out the images below and be transported to a simpler time. Also note that this 2019-2020 season is their 50th anniversary. Pretty special. Pretty special place too.

You are told on the tours, I presume still, that while the wood Teak is no longer allowed to be imported into the USA, they received the US' entire annual allotment when this floor was put in. It also is said to represent the look of IL from the air, with all the corn fields in the area...

Don't forget the outdoor auditorium. It looks like it has some fresh new white paint, visible all the way almost to the Quad too.

I love this performing arts center, always have and always will. If you're in the neighborhood in the coming months, you might be able to sneak in a show in their 50th year.

Illini Homecoming Weekend 2019, Champaign, IL

What a great day and trip this was! I hadn't been back in some time and luckily still know one family that has the inside line on tailgates and fun.

We wound-up in a tailgate area they always go to, with friends of theirs all around. AND, the game was amazing (though we watched it from a TV in the tailgate!). It was a great way to spend a Saturday afternoon, as it always was.

After the game ended, I went on a bit of a walk-about around the campus, see some of the old haunts.The first stop though was a new statue for Dick Butkus... pretty cool.

Then onward to Wohler's Hall, and on my way saw the band at the Education Building...

For an extra dash of fun, I wanted to take the underground passage through Main Library to the Undergrad Library... still the same, but actually nicer and more user-friendly now...

... Down, down, down...

Excellent mural and usable tables & chairs now too...

Finally, I pop back up outside...

Hit Foellinger Auditorium and the Echo Point...

And then pop-up to Kam's (which we were told all weekend was closing that Sunday - it should be closed now). And that's not to say I even spent that much time there, but it was a bit of a local legend.

Finish up walking back through the Quad...

And then a little more touring and Illini gear shopping the next morning...

... Stately Altgeld Hall

And I believe this was the English Building... love the entryway brass. You don't see that kind of fabrication anymore.

Awesome trip, still a boring flat drive, I'll be back, no doubt. Maybe I'll pay off my last remaining loan someday too.