CHICAGO – A Dallas product and self-described “oblivious-to-everything” receiver, Northwestern’s Demetrius Fields conceded Saturday that before reaching this part of the country, he’d never heard of Wrigley Field. The pomp around his team’s game there Saturday against rival Illinois doesn’t register with him.
Then, Monday, he learned of the football layout in the iconic baseball stadium. He heard that the middle of the east end zone’s back line sits about a foot from padding protecting the field’s right-center field wall. And all of sudden, Wrigley Field mattered to Fields.
“I might need to go look at that,” he said.
Fields will get a chance Thursday when Northwestern practices at the Friendly Confines. And the nation will get a peek Saturday afternoon when the annual duel for the Land of Lincoln Trophy gets staged at Wrigley for the first time in 87 years.
The game’s leadup has appeared all positive so far, especially for the attention-starved Wildcats. Many fans who purchased tickets for Saturday also bought Northwestern season tickets, boosting that base by 40 percent, school officials said. The unique venue, the quirks of the surrounding neighborhood and the presence of ESPN’s College GameDay this weekend also provide a boon.
But the on-field situation might not be so rosy. The field is shoehorned between the third base dugout and the right field fence, leading to tight squeezes behind both end zones. Things grew so cozy on the east end that the goal posts behind it are attached to the fence instead of rising from a stanchion connected to the turf.
Both coaches, Northwestern’s Pat Fitzgerald and Illinois’ Ron Zook, signed off on the game two years ago, provided player welfare ranked as top priority. Stadium and school officials spent large chunks of the last two years researching the logistics – they checked other converted baseball fields, such as San Francisco’s AT&T Park, and met with risk management specialists to acquire insurance.
“Ultimately, we all felt that, while it’s not the configuration most people see, it’s safe for the players,” Cubs president Crane Kenney said.
More room exists behind half of the east end zone because Wrigley’s right field wall recedes as it heads toward the foul line. Receivers lined up to the quarterback’s right can play as on a normal field; those on the left will find six inches of padding one step beyond the end line.
Similar issues exist in the West end zone. About 10 feet separate the back of the end zone from the third base dugout, which will be covered and padded. The walls on either side of the dugout stand about three feet high, meaning receivers could tumble into the seats.
“Hopefully, it’s not like Arena ball,” Fields said, “where you run into the boards on the side.”
The logistic challenges don’t end there. Illinois’ travel squad, which could stretch as high as 70 players, must work in a locker room that can barely accommodate a visiting baseball team. Northwestern assistant athletic director for facilities Scott Arey said Wildcats player will be placed two to a locker for the game.
“Both teams know they’ve got to suck it up,” he said.
Not all the eccentricities of Wrigley Field football are negative. Northwestern will bring its typical game-day Fan Fest to Sheffield Avenue, which runs behind the right field fence. As an added treat, the East end zone goalposts won’t include a net, meaning pregame fans can stand on Sheffield and catch souvenir footballs as the kickers warm up.
The teams will share the north sideline, with each squad gathered between a 45-yard line and 5-yard line. The arrangement will make for long sprints for substitutes checking in for goal-line plays.
Northwestern will travel to the game from campus in Evanston, Ill., on a chartered ‘El’ train. And GameDay, making its first visit to a Northwestern home game, will enjoy maybe its most atypical sight – a McDonald’s parking lot across Clark Street from the stadium.
For older fans, the game’s best perk is a return of Wrigley as a football host. The NFL played about 350 games in the facility, but none since 1970, after which the Bears left for Soldier Field. Wrigley hasn’t welcomed college football since a DePaul game in 1938; Northwestern has been absent since the 1923 Illinois contest, a 29-0 Illini victory. That game predates the stadium’s current name; back then, it went by Cubs Park.
The venue, the concerns and the fanfare have made an otherwise irrelevant Big Ten game into a national event. And if everyone stays safe in the field, Saturday could end up exactly how it was intended.
“Our vision was to create a bowl game during the season,” Northwestern athletic director Jim Phillips said. “That’s what has occurred.”
Read more: http://www.sportingnews.com/ncaa-football/story/2010-11-15/excitement-for-football-in-wrigley-grows-but-safety-questions-linger#ixzz15SnTUP2B
