A Trip to Champaign for Illini Football Homecoming - 2018

A few weeks back, we piled into the Swagger Wagon and went to see my Illini take on Purdue for Homecoming.  We now have two nieces that are Freshman down in Champaign, so this was a family affair.  My sisters threw a great tailgate in Grange Grove and then we went into the Loyalty Lounge inside of Memorial Stadium to watch the game.  Well, I went in well before the game because I wanted to see warmups and all the pre-game what-have-yous.  We were lucky that the specialists for the Illini warmed up (for the most part) on the north end of the field, so our spots in the patio in the northwest corner tower of the stadium was a good view.

Just about every game that we go to as a family, Nat and I disagree about the 'time to enter' the game.  I enjoy the pre-game festivities almost as much as the game.  I like to see the operation unfold, watch the support staff take action and watch the stadium come to life.  A little weird, yeah.  But, that's why I want to get into line to enter the stadium an hour or so before kickoff.  That way, I can get settled in with about 45 minutes to kickoff and take it all in.

As for how the Illini fared?  Welp, we *may* win some day.  But not on this day.  Got Purdue at exactly the wrong time.

I've covered our visits to Memorial Stadium for Homecoming and other games over the years here on the blog.

• A look-back at my time as a punter on the Fighting Illini football team in the 1990's.
• The first time that I posted about it was in 2010 when we brought our oldest to her first Homecoming.  
• And here's a post from our game visit in 2011 when the Athletic Department had a 'stripe the stadium' game.  
• That same year, I brought my oldest daughter down on the field with me for pre-game festivities.  
• In 2012, we went to see the Illini take on Louisiana Tech and was able to sneak a few kids on the field with me, too!
• And we also went to the Spring Game in 2012.  Hard core fandom, amirite?!?
• Then I shared some pics of Block I in 2015.  
• And now in 2018.  Here's our visit from 2016 when we saw the Illini play, but it wasn't on Homecoming weekend.