College Football Game to Be Played With One End Zone
- Posted on November 20, 2010 at 7:03am by
Jonathon M. Seidl
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The east end zone, which won't be used for offense on Saturday. (Photo: AP)
When Illinois and Northwestern kick off their football game on Saturday, things will be a little strange. That’s because the teams will only be playing with one offensive end zone.
The drastic decision was made in the name of safety. The teams are squaring off not at a normal football stadium, but rather a baseball field — Wrigley field, that is, home of the Chicago Cubs. The venue forced an odd field configuration that pushed the east end zone up against the famous ivy-covered brick wall.
ESPN explains:
The east end zone is just feet away from the right-field wall, and although there is padding, there still were concerns that players could be injured there.
Northwestern coach Pat Fitzgerald had said this week that he would have different game plans for each end zone to avoid the possibility of injury.
When a team is on offense Saturday, it will be positioned to head to the west end zone.
“Though it’s not ideal, it’s the right thing,“ Northwestern athletic director Jim Phillips said on ”The Waddle & Silvy Show” on ESPN 1000. “We’ve been planning for this for a while, there were no surprises. The field came out the way we thought, it ended up maybe being a little closer with some of the padding.
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Comments (72)
AU Patriot
Posted on November 20, 2010 at 10:58amI am from Hoover, AL and our high school football team (GO BUCS!) plays many of its games at the Hoover Met. The Met is the baseball stadium for our minor league team, the B’ham Barons. It is a little awkward BUT our high school team plays there using 100 yds without any problems. Now, how can a HIGH SCHOOL team transition a field without problems yet a college game is using only one end zone? This is just wrong.
Seems like those of us from the South aren’t quite so dumb are we????? At least we can make 100 yard field.
Report Post »powhatan
Posted on November 20, 2010 at 10:38amI have officially seen it all now
Report Post »VIKINGDAWG88
Posted on November 20, 2010 at 10:29amMany of these players may see action in the Arena Football League so banging into walls is in their future anyway.
Report Post »NoStar
Posted on November 20, 2010 at 10:22amMr. Wrigley, TEAR DOWN THIS WALL!
Report Post »Mr. Apathy
Posted on November 20, 2010 at 10:20amWas Eric Holder responsible for this fiasco too? Why don’t both teams all wear panties and play two hand touch!
Report Post »13thgenerati0namerican
Posted on November 20, 2010 at 10:12amI can run so fast that the other players would not be able to catch me. I am the fastest runner I can think of. You can see me run on youtube if you want to check my style. Go and look at the man under the bridge and he can tell you that he cannot catch me or molest me when I go past the bridge
Mr. Apathy
Posted on November 20, 2010 at 10:12amWas Eric Holder responsible for this gaff too!
Report Post »jbl8199
Posted on November 20, 2010 at 10:10amThey’re only doing this to save money so some big wig can get a new car.
Report Post »poverty.sucks
Posted on November 20, 2010 at 9:48amNCAA has stipulations in order to be sanctioned, many good schools are unable to participate because of those policies. If this school fails to uphold their commitment then the “Right Thing” to do is forfeit the game.
Report Post »longun45
Posted on November 20, 2010 at 9:33amThey couldn’t find a highschool field to play on?
Report Post »printdesignchicago.com
Posted on November 20, 2010 at 9:18amand to think… the distances are on the walls there. not very good at math, are these ‘higher educators’?
chicago is lost to the obamunists… a huge amount of businesses have been taxed so much they no longer operate in chicago. all the jobs lost over the taxes here make this one of the worst places to live. not to mention the daily shootings that read like headlines from afghanistan
Report Post »dwh320
Posted on November 20, 2010 at 9:13amThe Chicago Way… who would have thunk it.
Report Post »I3THGENERATIONAMERICAN
Posted on November 20, 2010 at 9:11amI like football players to score in my “end zone”
Klidies
Posted on November 20, 2010 at 11:07amYou have turned your tightend into a wide receiver.
Report Post »LadyIzShy
Posted on November 20, 2010 at 8:52amoh my how stupid? there was NO place else to play? come on people
Report Post »elkaypee
Posted on November 20, 2010 at 8:51amWhats the big deal? When we were kids playing football, we played in only one endzone. When one team scored, the other team “walked” to the other end to recieve the kick. We always had some type of marker showing the unused endzone we had to cross for any touchdowns that might happen as a result of an interception or fumble. Change of possesion simple meant for teams to just trade sides of the football. Other rules we had were, three completions is a first down, 3 mississppi’s before a rush, and no hitting in the nuts.
Report Post »poverty.sucks
Posted on November 20, 2010 at 10:00amThese Arn’t kids playing. These are young adults in training to be professionals. Now they’re being subjected to stupidity by a bunch of control freaks. Unprofessional at that.
Report Post »The BRAIN
Posted on November 20, 2010 at 11:46amWatch the video. Part of the concern is field direction changes DURING a play. (Turnovers – fumbles – interceptions can flip a field DURING a play.)
Report Post »Rowgue
Posted on November 20, 2010 at 12:42pm@THE BRAIN
Change of posession is not a factor. The concern with the wall is for recievers blazing at full speed on a post route drilling the wall trying to stretch out to make a catch. A defender picking up a fumble or getting an interception and running it back for a touchdown isn’t in any danger of accidentally running into a wall that is 40 feet from the goal line. The difference is the defensive guy already has the ball and the play is over as soon as he hits the front of the end zone.
Report Post »The BRAIN
Posted on November 20, 2010 at 1:20pmI understand that, but that was the reason given for the lingering concerns.
Why use a baseball field instead of a purpose built facility in the first place?
Did Soldier field get torn down and not replaced? Do both teams not have their own stadium?
Is there a problem televising it if they want more fans to see it? Pay per view if they want viewership paid for.
There’s a serious “lacking common sense” factor here. If they are only going to use half of the field only HALF of the fans will get a decent view ANYHOW and less than that if it is a BASEBALL stadium as the configuration already forces play further from the seats.
Report Post »MommaGrizzly
Posted on November 20, 2010 at 8:49amHello Soldier Field!!! And, living in Illinois I happen to know we have hundreds of football stadiums…come on people, how stupid do we have to be???
Report Post »this name already in use
Posted on November 20, 2010 at 8:37amThis looks like a ESPN/Big Ten ratings stunt. How many other football fields are in the Chicago area? 100? 1000? NEWS FLASH…. Wrigley Field is a BASEBALL stadium!!!, you know, home plate, umpires, balls, strikes, etc…
Report Post »Chialms
Posted on November 20, 2010 at 8:15amA little less hate, maybe folks? Sure it’s a bit of a logistical nightmare, but the history of this field is undeniable. It’ll be a treat for these youngsters to dress out and play on Wrigley. Also, it illustrates the need for an improvement in the available amenities there. “Anything for a buck”? Okay, I’ll buy that. But were I still in Chi-Town I‘d also damn sure be buying tickets to the first college game played here since the 40’s. Great experience, great press. Should be a fun game to watch.
Report Post »poverty.sucks
Posted on November 20, 2010 at 9:28amNegative, this is far beyond trick or treat for children. Democrats enjoy not playing by the rules. This display before the children demonstrates adults inability to do things righ, if you don’t want to do it the right way, protest for an exception when an exception is unwarranted.
Report Post »poverty.sucks
Posted on November 20, 2010 at 8:07amWhy are we giving yielding to liberal extremism? There are other football fields. If the host team fails to provide regulation field, they must forfeit the game.
Report Post »N37BU6
Posted on November 21, 2010 at 5:05amFootball with bats? HELL, YEAH!
I didn’t read the article, I‘m just assuming that’s what’s going on… and if I don’t turn on the TV and see football players with bats, I’m going to be very disappointed.
(Please give them bats, please give them bats…)
Report Post »grandmaof5
Posted on November 20, 2010 at 7:57amWonder what happens when a ball is intercepted, just keep running to the offensive end zone? Having a tough time picturing how this will work altho I’m glad they have put the safety of the players first. Seems like the Bear’s stadium would have been a better choice.
Report Post »DagneyT
Posted on November 20, 2010 at 7:57amIt’s Chicago, did you expect sanity? In Texas, we have high school football stadiums that, in size, equal some professional stadiums.
Report Post »drybackinpi
Posted on November 20, 2010 at 8:46amEverything‘s ’Bigger in Texas’.
Report Post »printdesignchicago.com
Posted on November 20, 2010 at 9:19amyet another reason i’m moving back to texas.
Report Post »Rowgue
Posted on November 20, 2010 at 12:45pmTexas’ love with high school football is born out of washed up high school players that had delusions of granduer trying to live out their fantasies vicariously through their kids.
Report Post »APPLESOFGOLD
Posted on November 20, 2010 at 1:43pmIt’s not the size of the stadium that matters, it’s how you use it. In typical Chicago fashion, they have failed at both!
Report Post »robert5635
Posted on November 20, 2010 at 7:37amIf they gonna do that, make it a 40′ field, and issue tickets to players if they run either way. Talk about insanity! Anything to make a buck.
Report Post »teahugger
Posted on November 20, 2010 at 7:33amSo why are they playing football on a baseball field anyway? There must be a football field somewhere in Chicago! (I am obviously not a sports fan, or I would probably know the answer already, but it sure wasn’t in the article, was it?K)
Report Post »MoreCowbell
Posted on November 20, 2010 at 8:39amI was thinking the same exact thing. I don’t get it.
Report Post »Down2TheC
Posted on November 20, 2010 at 8:47amThey do have their own stadium. So this is just be be different.
Report Post »Rowgue
Posted on November 20, 2010 at 12:33pmThe same reason they played a hockey game there. Because it’s the most recognizeable and famous field still being used in the world of sports. And it’s a thrill for any athlete to compete there, no matter if it’s the sport that was intended to be played there or not.
By the way the Bears played their games at Wrigley Field for 49 years. There’s nothing strange about playing football there. The morons are the representatives from the schools that worked with the Cubs people on the field layout. There is the established layout that the Bears used for 49 years that doesn’t put an endzone up against a wall…but the schools didn’t want to use that configuration because of seating and view concerns.
Report Post »poverty.sucks
Posted on November 20, 2010 at 1:31pm@Rowgue – what’s strange is that the Bears played on a regulated field. Chicago economics has influence the wrong decision to change playing rules that differ from other games at play.
Report Post »EPROM
Posted on November 20, 2010 at 7:29amWell, this is nothing new. …Only one end zone gets used during a Bengals game, too!
Report Post »vonkrogh1951
Posted on November 20, 2010 at 7:36amYou are so cruel! So Cruel! Probably true though lol.
Report Post »Gonzo
Posted on November 20, 2010 at 8:44amHooday!
Report Post »Dawgnabox
Posted on November 20, 2010 at 10:41amGet Ummmm
Report Post »SND97
Posted on November 20, 2010 at 7:28amSomeone needs to lose their job over this.
Report Post »Strictlybusiness
Posted on November 20, 2010 at 8:37amONLY in Chicago, with Two teams from Illinois, could something soooo insane happen ! ! WOW, EVERYTHING from A Man Child President (obama), to this insanity of a football game. Maybe we just give Chicago to Canada, get rid of the nightmere…
Down2TheC
Posted on November 20, 2010 at 8:46amSaw an overhead shot from a local news chopper yesterday and the sidelines don’t even look to be parallel. Square peg, round whole.
Report Post »poverty.sucks
Posted on November 20, 2010 at 9:35amThese officials should be at fault for choosing not to do the right thing.
Report Post »ishka4me
Posted on November 20, 2010 at 10:50amIf both teams are playing by the same rules it will be ok. They will adapt. Don’t make more of this then what it is.When You go to Fenway park almost all of foul ball territory is out of play, when you go to other parks some foul territory is over 100 feet to the stands, but again, both teams play by same standard.
Report Post »snowleopard3200 {mix art}
Posted on November 20, 2010 at 10:59am@The Blazers
Does Chicago seem to add a new definition for Crazy, or Insane almost on an daily basis?
Report Post »greatrighthope
Posted on November 20, 2010 at 12:24pmHey, I just spent that last twenty minutes reading in The National Post how the Tides foundation has infiltrated Canada and Vancouver’s civic government. They have been working for the last 15 years to transform western Canada, starting with Vanccouver, into some sort of eco-justice haven that will be the launchpad for changing the world. So, please, keep your loopy football field, you have given us enough for now. (Besides, we are still trying to figure how our football fields have somehow have 110 yard fields and 25 yard end zones?! – if they had a game at Wrigley the bleachers would be in play) Cheers!
Report Post »Rijkstra
Posted on November 20, 2010 at 1:06pmSND97>Maybe we just give Chicago to Canada, get rid of the nightmere [sic].
That would never work! Canadian football fields are 50 yards longer than in the U.S!
Rijkstra
Posted on November 20, 2010 at 1:38pmStrictlybusiness>Maybe we just give Chicago to Canada, get rid of the nightmere [sic].
That would never work! Canadian football fields are 30 yards longer than in the U.S!
Report Post »JJ Coolay
Posted on November 21, 2010 at 12:58amRe-Tards!!
If you can’t fit a football field (all 120 yards) onto a baseball field, how about you DONT USE THE BASEBALL FIELD!!!
Geez… some forethought would be nice.
Report Post »CYCLONE
Posted on November 21, 2010 at 1:48amRahms new football field…. HHhhaaarrrumppphhhhhh…
Report Post »N37BU6
Posted on November 21, 2010 at 4:54amWe don’t want it, sorry.
Although it would be a fair trade for Celine Dion…
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