Wednesday, March 3, 2010

It's almost a done deal...football is returning to Wrigley!

The Tribune is reporting this morning that Northwestern is almost set to announce that they will be playing the University of Illinois at Wrigley Field on November 20th.

I think this is absolutely awesome!

I didn't think it would be possible to fit a football field into the stadium after the Cubs added some field level seats, but according to the Trib, they will be rotating the field 90 degrees from the configuration the Bears used for decades which should allow enough room. 

With that said, I would assume they will still need to put up some mats and cushions near some of the corners of the end-zones to ensure safety.

Here is a graphic that the Trib published today..

Unlike the configuration for the Bears games, it appears that the NU/Illinois game will have two full sidelines for the teams.

I would imagine the biggest issue would the fact that the player facilities would be extremely cramped...but they are college players, so they can deal with it. 

I also have to wonder if they will make offers to the Cubs season ticket holders to buy seats for this game. (I might have to go to this game!)

Another question, would they look to put up temporary bleachers in left field similar to what the Bears always did in right field.

With that aside, I'm hoping this is just the beginning for events like this.

But (ok...now I'm going to get all negative about this...)

Most accounts have the Cubs starting to construct the long awaited "Triangle Building" this coming off-season. With an event planned to happen at Wrigley almost 2 months after the end of the season (and I'm assuming no playoffs this season), could that delay any construction projects around the ballpark from getting started?

Now it is estimated that construction of the Triangle Building would likely take 18 months...so pushing off the construction a couple of months might not be that big of a deal. If it takes 18 months to construct, that would push the completion to around April of 2012.  A month or two might be able to be squeezed out of that schedule.

That also said, since the Triangle Building isn't technically part of the ballpark, both the construction and the football game could happen without any major problems. The Cubs will have to play one whole season while the Wrigley annex goes up anyways.  

Anyway...are you ready for some football? I am. This is cool!