Today's Tidbit... Watching Away Games on Illinois Field

We were once made of hardier stock. We sat in bleachers on cold afternoons watching football games with nothing to keep us warm besides natural fabrics. Synthetic fabrics and fibers that now keep us cozy did not exist; neither did commercial radio, television, or that World Wide Web thing. Still, people once sat in the bleachers on cold afternoons even when there wasn't a game. Instead, fans filed into the stadium to watch the scoreboard as they updated it with news of a game played hundreds of miles away. I don't know how often that happened, but it occurred on Illinois Field during the 1914 and 1916 seasons as Bob Zuppke began changing the fortunes of the Illinois football program.

Illinois Field is in the background with one set of stands. (Date and source unknown)

Unlike the beautiful brick and concrete Illinois Memorial Stadium, where Red Grange led the Illini to a big win over Michigan in 1924, its predecessor, Illinois Field, was nothing fancy. Sets of wooden bleachers were added over time, eventually surrounding the field, and the place had only a serviceable scoreboard. Still, people relied on the scoreboard to inform them of a game they could not see.