Had to catch some of the Illinois-Northwestern game on ESPNU to see how the little nuances of Wrigley Field would effect the game. With Illinois up 14-0 over Northwestern in the first quarter and driving towards the west end zone for another score, quarterback Eddie McGee throws an interception to Brian Peters on the Northwestern 41 yard line. Peters returned the interception 59 yards for a touchdown, so the fans in the east end zone of Wrigley Field were able to witness a score on their side of the field, so at least they can say that they got their money's worth. However, due to the "Wrigley Field rules", the players of both teams had to run all the way back to the west end zone so that Northwestern could kick the extra point to cut the Fighting Illini lead to 14-7. (Note that after Illinois got the ball back, they only took 3 plays to go 73 yards and score another touchdown to go back up by 14 points, 21-7.)
Interestingly enough, if extra points were kicked in the east end zone, they most certainly would have ended up outside the field, probably in the "skybox seats" of Sheffield Avenue...so how were they planning on getting all the footballs back?
Another little interesting detail - instead of having the teams on opposite sidelines, as in a regular game, both teams are sharing the same sideline. Illinois is closer to the west end zone, between the 10 and the 40 yard lines, and Northwestern is between the 10 and 40 yard lines of the east end zone, with both lined up on the "north" sideline. Northwestern appears to have two graduate assistants holding up a giant purple towel in order to hide the coach giving the offensive signals to the quarterback. Really strange stuff that you don't see every day.
Interestingly enough, if extra points were kicked in the east end zone, they most certainly would have ended up outside the field, probably in the "skybox seats" of Sheffield Avenue...so how were they planning on getting all the footballs back?
Another little interesting detail - instead of having the teams on opposite sidelines, as in a regular game, both teams are sharing the same sideline. Illinois is closer to the west end zone, between the 10 and the 40 yard lines, and Northwestern is between the 10 and 40 yard lines of the east end zone, with both lined up on the "north" sideline. Northwestern appears to have two graduate assistants holding up a giant purple towel in order to hide the coach giving the offensive signals to the quarterback. Really strange stuff that you don't see every day.
Moonlighting as a blogger to pursue my interest and enjoyment of sports. Former high school and Division I athlete (now a "retired" family man) that loves watching and discussing all sports. Follow me on Twitter (@HoldoutSports) and like Holdout Sports on Facebook.
