(02-16-2016 04:54 PM)NIUslumo Wrote:  

(02-16-2016 04:47 PM)Field Turf Wrote:  Considering our low home attendance, there is not much downside to holding a game at the Cell. Probably slightly higher ticket price to offset revenue if in fact attendance is lower than a regular home game. And we don't have that large of a fan base to piss off if they don't like using a home game at the Cell. I'm indifferent.

No kidding. This is not Frazier declaring thermonuclear war on the fan base. People need to relax.

2014 Home attendance vs. Toledo - 8,462

What are we crying about? I'm perfectly fine with trying something new.

Do you really think people are going to go into one of the worst parts of Chicago in frigid weather to watch a game between NIU and Toledo, on a weeknight. It is almost like you could not dream up a worse scenario

I can guarantee you it will be a saturday game.

People need to calm down and wait and see who the opponent is and the details surrounding it.

And really, no matter who it is - it'll generate buzz, it'll likely generate more revenue, it's a cool experience for the student athletes to be a part of. End of story.

(02-16-2016 04:57 PM)DeadMoney16 Wrote:  People need to calm down and wait and see who the opponent is and the details surrounding it.

And really, no matter who it is - it'll generate buzz, it'll likely generate more revenue, it's a cool experience for the student athletes to be a part of. End of story.

No and No, im sorry but that is just false.

(02-16-2016 04:58 PM)MaddDawgz02 Wrote:  

(02-16-2016 04:57 PM)DeadMoney16 Wrote:  People need to calm down and wait and see who the opponent is and the details surrounding it.

And really, no matter who it is - it'll generate buzz, it'll likely generate more revenue, it's a cool experience for the student athletes to be a part of. End of story.

No and No, im sorry but that is just false.

You are the wrong one. You are over exaggerating over something you have no details on.

(02-16-2016 04:54 PM)NIUslumo Wrote:  

(02-16-2016 04:47 PM)Field Turf Wrote:  Considering our low home attendance, there is not much downside to holding a game at the Cell. Probably slightly higher ticket price to offset revenue if in fact attendance is lower than a regular home game. And we don't have that large of a fan base to piss off if they don't like using a home game at the Cell. I'm indifferent.

No kidding. This is not Frazier declaring thermonuclear war on the fan base. People need to relax.

2014 Home attendance vs. Toledo - 8,462

What are we crying about? I'm perfectly fine with trying something new.

That's the whole point. He's betting that NIU can draw a bigger crowd on a weeknight at the Cell rather than on a weeknight at Huskie Stadium.

ESPN has NIU over a barrel when it comes to November games thanks to the damn conference, so he's got to try something to boost attendance, even by a little bit.

NIU-Toledo is the marquee conference match-up every year (the TV ratings show it), and it's the conference game that NIU fans get up for more than any other (if you don't believe me, go back and look at the traffic on the board Toledo week every year).

Every one of us has bitched and moaned about how tough it is for us to get out to DeKalb on a weeknight, even if the opponent is Toledo. Well, for a lot of us, the game might be about to move a lot closer and a lot easier for us to get to (some might not even need to drive).

I bet it's also cheaper for NIU to rent the Cell during the off-season than it is during the season.

(02-16-2016 04:58 PM)MaddDawgz02 Wrote:  

(02-16-2016 04:57 PM)DeadMoney16 Wrote:  People need to calm down and wait and see who the opponent is and the details surrounding it.

And really, no matter who it is - it'll generate buzz, it'll likely generate more revenue, it's a cool experience for the student athletes to be a part of. End of story.

No and No, im sorry but that is just false.

You're out of your mind if you don't believe that. The Chicago media and ESPN will follow it with us being the first to do it at the Cell (buzz). Who knows if it'll be a weeknight game, but the revenue for a weeknight game in November where all of the Season Tickets are already sold and students get in for free is crap in DeKalb (more revenue). The players are going to love something different - including that pre-mentioned "buzz" (cool experience). Check, check and check.

Okay, I'm hoping it's the WIU game. It makes the most sense because it's a Saturday game with alumni from both schools in the chicagoland area. I can't see it being SDSU because of schedulepalooza, and holding a conference game on the south side of Chicago in cold weather is just a bad idea. We will see what NIU says tomorrow, but I just don't see how it could be any other game, at least one that would make sense to me.

(02-16-2016 04:57 PM)DogPoundNorth Wrote:  I can guarantee you it will be a saturday game.

If it is, and it's a November game, it'll be solely thanks to Frazier moving the game to The Cell.

It's going to take something like that for ESPN and the MAC to sacrifice their marquee weeknight November match-up.

(02-16-2016 04:29 PM)MaddDawgz02 Wrote:  

(02-16-2016 04:27 PM)BarsemaBone2 Wrote:  My money's on NIU playing either Toledo or BG in November at the Cell.

That would be, to steal niu85alum phrase an "unmitigated disaster" You would be very very hard pressed to get 2k people to that game. Not only that, NIU loses any home field advantage with a neutral field game. It just would make no sense, I am confident we didn't drop the ball that largely.

I hope its a weekday vs UT. Its not like we have a big crowd in Dekalb. I am sure a big dekalb bus program will be available. And it will be easier for chicagoland alums to attend. Sometimes you have to shake things up. I bet more then 2,000 show up

Dogpoundnorth says "I can guarantee you it will be a saturday game." That is funny.

(02-16-2016 05:04 PM)BarsemaBone2 Wrote:  

(02-16-2016 04:57 PM)DogPoundNorth Wrote:  I can guarantee you it will be a saturday game.

If it is, and it's a November game, it'll be solely thanks to Frazier moving the game to The Cell.

It's going to take something like that for ESPN and the MAC to sacrifice their marquee weeknight November match-up.

I just don't see how it could be a conference game. But we'll find out I guess.

(02-16-2016 04:32 PM)MaddDawgz02 Wrote:  

(02-16-2016 04:29 PM)HuskieJohn Wrote:  Pick the game that you wouldn't care if it was at Huskie Stadium...

WIU
SD ST
BSU
Toledo (Tues/Wed night in Nov)
CMU
BGSU
Buffalo

Unless its a new opponent and we are dropping WIU, this is not a smart move, at all. NIU will not get over 2k fans with any of these opponents. Obviously no MAC team will exceed 2k fans, and the others would have trouble also. If we have given away SDSU to a neutral field, I hereby declare Schedulepalooza and Frazier as a fraud.

It will ahve to be after the sox are done. We won't give up a non con game in sept. After working to get BC , SDSU etc to dekalb, why do you think SF would go and play them at sox park. I hereby declare you a fraud

(02-16-2016 05:05 PM)GCD70 Wrote:  

(02-16-2016 04:29 PM)MaddDawgz02 Wrote:  

(02-16-2016 04:27 PM)BarsemaBone2 Wrote:  My money's on NIU playing either Toledo or BG in November at the Cell.

That would be, to steal niu85alum phrase an "unmitigated disaster" You would be very very hard pressed to get 2k people to that game. Not only that, NIU loses any home field advantage with a neutral field game. It just would make no sense, I am confident we didn't drop the ball that largely.

I hope its a weekday vs UT. Its not like we have a big crowd in Dekalb. I am sure a big dekalb bus program will be available. And it will be easier for chicagoland alums to attend. Sometimes you have to shake things up. I bet more then 2,000 show up

My educated guess would also be the Toledo game in November. I don't believe a football game will be scheduled at the Cell before the baseball season is over. I think a lot of football fans from Chicago will come out to see a Maction game in November!

(02-16-2016 05:12 PM)HuskieTom51 Wrote:  

(02-16-2016 05:05 PM)GCD70 Wrote:  

(02-16-2016 04:29 PM)MaddDawgz02 Wrote:  

(02-16-2016 04:27 PM)BarsemaBone2 Wrote:  My money's on NIU playing either Toledo or BG in November at the Cell.

That would be, to steal niu85alum phrase an "unmitigated disaster" You would be very very hard pressed to get 2k people to that game. Not only that, NIU loses any home field advantage with a neutral field game. It just would make no sense, I am confident we didn't drop the ball that largely.

I hope its a weekday vs UT. Its not like we have a big crowd in Dekalb. I am sure a big dekalb bus program will be available. And it will be easier for chicagoland alums to attend. Sometimes you have to shake things up. I bet more then 2,000 show up

My educated guess would also be the Toledo game in November. I don't believe a football game will be scheduled at the Cell before the baseball season is over. I think a lot of football fans from Chicago will come out to see a Maction game in November!

Isn't baseball season over at the cell around May anyway?

(02-16-2016 05:08 PM)DogPoundNorth Wrote:  

(02-16-2016 05:04 PM)BarsemaBone2 Wrote:  

(02-16-2016 04:57 PM)DogPoundNorth Wrote:  I can guarantee you it will be a saturday game.

If it is, and it's a November game, it'll be solely thanks to Frazier moving the game to The Cell.

It's going to take something like that for ESPN and the MAC to sacrifice their marquee weeknight November match-up.

I just don't see how it could be a conference game. But we'll find out I guess.

Don't underestimate the amount of leverage having the game at the Cell could be, especially if both teams are good when they face off.

WIU would be the biggest draw, but again, I doubt the White Sox would want another sport using the field during the season. The Sodfather's the best in the business, but could he really get the field back in pristine condition when the Sox return home on 9/26?

SDSU is going to be at Huskie Stadium, and that leaves the conference games. Of them, only Toledo & BG make sense and as we know, the NIU-Toledo game is the marquee match-up for the conference. It's the only one that run-of-the-mill college football fans are interested in.

I will repeat a question I asked in the original rumor thread:

If this is true, can we get Gene Honda to do the public address announcing? Imagine him saying "...for a Huskie first-down!"

Maybe this is to get us used to the "new" Huskie Stadium...

Where the West side is demolished and a fully turf baseball field can be installed. The East side will still get the suites and outdoor club seating as planned and the South bowl will still happen other than it wont curl in on the West side. Then where the right and center field wall (where the West side stands were) would eventually be a monstrous 5 level structure with mostly indoor club seats which runs the length of the football field.

(02-16-2016 05:12 PM)DogPoundNorth Wrote:  

(02-16-2016 05:12 PM)HuskieTom51 Wrote:  

(02-16-2016 05:05 PM)GCD70 Wrote:  

(02-16-2016 04:29 PM)MaddDawgz02 Wrote:  

(02-16-2016 04:27 PM)BarsemaBone2 Wrote:  My money's on NIU playing either Toledo or BG in November at the Cell.

That would be, to steal niu85alum phrase an "unmitigated disaster" You would be very very hard pressed to get 2k people to that game. Not only that, NIU loses any home field advantage with a neutral field game. It just would make no sense, I am confident we didn't drop the ball that largely.

I hope its a weekday vs UT. Its not like we have a big crowd in Dekalb. I am sure a big dekalb bus program will be available. And it will be easier for chicagoland alums to attend. Sometimes you have to shake things up. I bet more then 2,000 show up

My educated guess would also be the Toledo game in November. I don't believe a football game will be scheduled at the Cell before the baseball season is over. I think a lot of football fans from Chicago will come out to see a Maction game in November!

Isn't baseball season over at the cell around May anyway?

Ha, I see what you did there.

(02-16-2016 05:17 PM)BarsemaBone2 Wrote:  I will repeat a question I asked in the original rumor thread:

If this is true, can we get Gene Honda to do the public address announcing? Imagine him saying "...for a Huskie first-down!"

As long as it fits into his Hawks and UI schedule I don't see why not.