Best location to host the IHSA State Football Title Games

[DHS2018]

dude, give it up. your spokesmen skills are terrible.
i55 is the most terrible drive you can be on. the road is shit and always congested. you cannot even set the cruise. every college town has bars, hotels, and restaurants nearby.. bhwahahahaha.
either way dude, my favorite spot is on my couch, cold beers sitting next to me, and left over sandwiches in the fridge. but, I am 100% sure the ihsa is listening and reading your every word. just so they know you promote isu and it is ok with you to go there. they should be trying to sign a deal with argo high school nice stadium, great restaurants, lots of bars and 90% of the large schools can drive 1hr or less and not worry about hotels.

Give me the option of driving 90 minutes on I-55 or 5 hours on I-57, its a pretty easy choice.

Carbondale has about 5 decent hotels it looks like, not nearly enough considering its location and where the teams would be coming from. Dekalb doesn't have hotels either, but its close enough where teams, parents and fans don't need to spend the night.

And I never said the IHSA was listening to me, LOL, it is just common sense that having it at SIU will NEVER happen. I believe they tried to have the girls golf down there and that turned into a mess and too many schools complained, heck a few schools sent their kids down there in airplanes.

 

[ignazio]

Seat Geek Stadium.

It'll happen.

Hear me now, believe me later:
LINK

 

[WIU78]

Seat Geek? Please advise..the neighborhood would like to know. They are broke and need the $.

 

[Pionner73]

Carbondale is closer to Memphis then Chicago Hancock is a better then SIU more hotels restaurants then Carbondale when the game were at ISU almost always a full house regardless of which class team was playing

 

[PanthersWildcats86]

Carbondale has about 5 decent hotels it looks like, not nearly enough considering its location and where the teams would be coming from. Dekalb doesn't have hotels either, but its close enough where teams, parents and fans don't need to spend the night.

Carbondale has had little new hotel development since I graduated from SIU in 1993. But the hotel market for the area boomed...

When I graduated in '93, the east side of Carbondale had the mall and a new WalMart. West of I-57 in Marion was the new mall (completely surrounded by farmland) and little else. The hamlet of Carterville, the big lake, Logan Community College, the airport and farmland was all what was between the communities.

When I took the herd to SIU in 2013 for football & basketball camp, I was surprised by the development in Marion on the west side of I-57. I've read since that a number of Marion politicians and developers have had legal issues resulting from questionable financial activities...Carbondale didn't compete...The Marion mall is now basically empty, while a lot of the farmland has been developed and Carterville exploded...

its about 10 minutes from Carbondale to I-57, less than 15 minutes from Saluki Stadium to I-57. From a hotel developer's standpoint, Carbondale/Marion is one market, and travelers getting off I-57 are now more important than SIU. As a result, there are a bunch of hotels/motels that serve Carbondale right off the interstate. Searching the internet for Carbondale hotels will result in the 5 decent hotels in C'dale itself and a number of newer ones on the west side of Marion.

This discussion aside, geography will continue to be the problem for Carbondale in getting the football finals...

 

[EdgyTim]

Hear me now, believe me later:
LINK

If they go field turf...maybe.

 

[EagleDad82]

Soldier Field for now

I agree Soldier Field would be the best choice. I've been to opening season games there and it was great. I don't understand why the first game of the season can be at Soldier Field, but the last game of the season can't (except prep bowl). What am I missing?

 

[Pionner73]

Soldiers Field would be a lot like the U of I it would seam empty

 

[WIU78]

If they go field turf...maybe.

Ig... never going to happen my friend. Edgy that also is not going to happen...like bailing out the Titanic with a thimble.

 

[ignazio]

Seat Geek? Please advise..the neighborhood would like to know. They are broke and need the $.

Fire nearly ran itself into the ground under owner Andrew Hauptman, married to an heiress of the Bronfman/Seagrams fortune. He paid $35M in '07. MLS is now charging a $150M fee for a new franchise. Hauptman sold a 49% stake to Mansueto for $60M, which allows him to break the lease in Bridgeview.

Turf is going in as soon as the Fire finish the season.

 

[WIU78]

Please provide the info Ignazio. Not a peep from the locals.