MBB: Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association

[ziggy]

Thanks for the advice concerning travel route.  The first thing I think of when traveling to Chicagoland is BAD TRAFFIC!  Looks like Yahoo pretty much agrees with your suggestions.

[hope81]

According to some people somewhat familiar with Chicago, another possibility from Michigan is to take I294 to I55 west and then I355 north to I88.  It is one mile further than I294 to I88, but gets you even further west and I294 to O'Hare can be dicey.  Anyone know anything about this route?

[ChicagoHopeNut]

Thanks for the advice concerning travel route.  The first thing I think of when traveling to Chicagoland is BAD TRAFFIC!  Looks like Yahoo pretty much agrees with your suggestions.

As someone who grew up in the western Chicago suburbs my advice is to walk or get a helicopter during rush hour on a Friday regardless of which set of highways you take.   Sager's I-294 to I-88 directions are definitely the best way to Aurora from Hope/Calvin but there is no doubt there will be traffic on both of those roads and the same is the case with I-80 to US 30 that said I personally would try the I-80 route because I feel there is a higher probability that I-80 is fast than 294 or 88. Personally, if I were fortunate to be going I would leave as early as possible on Friday afternoon. I have done Holland to Aurora area in 2.5 hours. I have also done it in 5.5 (and that was not even because of any weather) Construction and a guy threatening to jump off an overpass is all it takes and I guarantee there will be construction!

[keith45]

depends on what time of day it is...anything after 4, its a crap shoot...88 isnt bad going west though

[ChicagoHopeNut]

According to some people somewhat familiar with Chicago, another possibility from Michigan is to take I294 to I55 west and then I355 north to I88.  It is one mile further than I294 to I88, but gets you even further west and I294 to O'Hare can be dicey.  Anyone know anything about this route?

The I-88 exit from 294 is about 10 miles before you ever get to O'Hare. The reality though is that 294 is usually bumper bumper from where it starts 5 miles from the Indiana boarder until it almost ends as you start to approach Wisconsin. I understand the theory behind the above suggestion but I-55 is also always a mess during rush hour (notice a pattern). Personally, I would say the above route has 4 highways with potential accidents, jumpers, construction, etc. where the other routes are limited to 2 or 3 highways so on those odds alone I would take a route with fewer highways unless I am on 294 approaching 55 and 294 is so bad it couldn't get any worse (a possibility).

[HopeConvert]

Thanks for the advice concerning travel route.  The first thing I think of when traveling to Chicagoland is BAD TRAFFIC!  Looks like Yahoo pretty much agrees with your suggestions.

As someone who grew up in the western Chicago suburbs my advice is to walk or get a helicopter during rush hour on a Friday regardless of which set of highways you take.   Sager's I-294 to I-88 directions are definitely the best way to Aurora from Hope/Calvin but there is no doubt there will be traffic on both of those roads and the same is the case with I-80 to US 30 that said I personally would try the I-80 route because I feel there is a higher probability that I-80 is fast than 294 or 88. Personally, if I were fortunate to be going I would leave as early as possible on Friday afternoon. I have done Holland to Aurora area in 2.5 hours. I have also done it in 5.5 (and that was not even because of any weather) Construction and a guy threatening to jump off an overpass is all it takes and I guarantee there will be construction!

2.5?!? How fast do you drive?

So you're recommending the i-80 route? My experience with the Tri-state is that the stupid thing is always under construction. Greg: you have any knowledge of any? Any of us can check http://www.gettingaroundillinois.com/default.aspx?ql=const for more information.

By the way, I have an extra ticket for Friday's games (wife couldn't make it  ). DCHopeNut gets first bite at it, but otherwise whoever wants it can have it. Dew Crewers get first preference. 

[HopeConvert]

It looks as if there is quite a bit of construction on Route 30.

[Hoop Dreams]

Good news for those of you Michiganders who are still out in the cold regarding tickets for Friday night:

I went down to the South Side on Wednesday morning to buy my ticket for Friday. I got to the Ratner Center at 11:20; the U of C had announced online that the ticket window would open at 11 am. There was no line. In fact, I was the only person there who bought a ticket. There were about four or five staff there, all of whom seemed a bit puzzled when I walked in the front door of the building and pulled the money out of my wallet. It was as if it took them all a moment to realize that someone was there to buy a ticket for Friday's Maroons basketball game out in Aurora.

  Ah, that good old U of C school spirit!

Sparse crowds at basketball games in Hyde Park are definitely the norm, but the Maroons have enjoyed great student support in previous NCAA tournaments -- even in "home games" at Loyola's Gentile Center and the Moody Bible Institute (Henry Crown Field House used to host the UAA Track and Field championships every year, coinciding with the first weekend of the hoops tourney).  Some students got so excited during March Madness, they would work on their O-Chem lab reports during timeouts only!

Seriously, nothing against the MIAA, I think your fan support is great... but I hope Aurora and Chicago get enough fans at the game to at least compete with the Hope and Calvin crazies.  Every team that has put in the work to make it this far deserves that support -- especially Aurora, which has earned the right to host

[ziggy]

Good news for those of you Michiganders who are still out in the cold regarding tickets for Friday night:

I went down to the South Side on Wednesday morning to buy my ticket for Friday. I got to the Ratner Center at 11:20; the U of C had announced online that the ticket window would open at 11 am. There was no line. In fact, I was the only person there who bought a ticket. There were about four or five staff there, all of whom seemed a bit puzzled when I walked in the front door of the building and pulled the money out of my wallet. It was as if it took them all a moment to realize that someone was there to buy a ticket for Friday's Maroons basketball game out in Aurora.

  Ah, that good old U of C school spirit!

Sparse crowds at basketball games in Hyde Park are definitely the norm, but the Maroons have enjoyed great student support in previous NCAA tournaments -- even in "home games" at Loyola's Gentile Center and the Moody Bible Institute (Henry Crown Field House used to host the UAA Track and Field championships every year, coinciding with the first weekend of the hoops tourney).  Some students got so excited during March Madness, they would work on their O-Chem lab reports during timeouts only!

Seriously, nothing against the MIAA, I think your fan support is great... but I hope Aurora and Chicago get enough fans at the game to at least compete with the Hope and Calvin crazies.  Every team that has put in the work to make it this far deserves that support -- especially Aurora, which has earned the right to host

I'm hoping that MIAA alumni in the Chicago area might recognize the ticket shortage through Calvin and Hope and take a few off the hands of Chicago and AU directly.

[sac]

I've made it to the I294/ I80 interchange in surprisingly good time.......close to DCHopeNuts 2 1/2 hours.  I'm sure that was on a Sunday though. 

I've also taken 45 minutes to go 3 miles through that interchange.

[ChicagoHopeNut]

Good news for those of you Michiganders who are still out in the cold regarding tickets for Friday night:

I went down to the South Side on Wednesday morning to buy my ticket for Friday. I got to the Ratner Center at 11:20; the U of C had announced online that the ticket window would open at 11 am. There was no line. In fact, I was the only person there who bought a ticket. There were about four or five staff there, all of whom seemed a bit puzzled when I walked in the front door of the building and pulled the money out of my wallet. It was as if it took them all a moment to realize that someone was there to buy a ticket for Friday's Maroons basketball game out in Aurora.

  Ah, that good old U of C school spirit!

Sparse crowds at basketball games in Hyde Park are definitely the norm, but the Maroons have enjoyed great student support in previous NCAA tournaments -- even in "home games" at Loyola's Gentile Center and the Moody Bible Institute (Henry Crown Field House used to host the UAA Track and Field championships every year, coinciding with the first weekend of the hoops tourney).  Some students got so excited during March Madness, they would work on their O-Chem lab reports during timeouts only!

Seriously, nothing against the MIAA, I think your fan support is great... but I hope Aurora and Chicago get enough fans at the game to at least compete with the Hope and Calvin crazies.  Every team that has put in the work to make it this far deserves that support -- especially Aurora, which has earned the right to host

Theoretically I do agree that any team that earns their way to the tourney deserves fan support from more than just their parents but the sad reality is that that is not the case for many teams at the D3 level. However, there is no doubt that Hope and Calvin are the strong exception to the rule. In West Michigan and Chicago, where a large number of alums for both schools live, Hope and Calvin will always be able to draw huge crowds. All of us on this board tend to follow the men's teams more closely but look at how many Hope members traveled to Mass. for the women's final four last year. Its truly an impressive fan base at both MIAA schools! And I think that is something we can all be proud of.

GO HOPE!!!

[WWWRHH]

Our recent trips around Chicago have been much improved vs. last year.  However, the toll configurations have been significantly changed with more lanes devoted to I-Pass equipped vehicles than to coin operated lanes.  It is not uncommon to see long back ups at the toll stations while the I-Pass lanes are moving at highway speeds.

If you are planning on traveling to the Chicago area on a few occasions over the next year it might be worthwhile to pick up an I-Pass module at a gas station or truck stop in Indiana and activate it by phone prior to getting on 294.  Even then, it will pay to leave early.

Of course there is much less chance of traffic congestion on the route to Greencastle and tickets are easier to come by 

[oldknight]

Good news for those of you Michiganders who are still out in the cold regarding tickets for Friday night:

I went down to the South Side on Wednesday morning to buy my ticket for Friday. I got to the Ratner Center at 11:20; the U of C had announced online that the ticket window would open at 11 am. There was no line. In fact, I was the only person there who bought a ticket. There were about four or five staff there, all of whom seemed a bit puzzled when I walked in the front door of the building and pulled the money out of my wallet. It was as if it took them all a moment to realize that someone was there to buy a ticket for Friday's Maroons basketball game out in Aurora.

The long and short of it is that I suspect Chicago will be giving back a lot of ducats to be sold at the door on Friday, just as will Aurora.

No doubt these people were faculty who--having been heavily influenced by the late Milton Friedman--were trying to figure out why you couldn't understand the standard market forces for tickets that exist within the D3 market and believed that you were wasting a precious resource (your time) to drive to Hyde Park to buy a ticket when you could have gotten one at the gate. I would have expected Greg to educate these professors on the aberations created within the D3 ticket market by the presence of Calvin and Hope at the Aurora subsectional. Who knows, if Greg had done that we might have been treated to the sight of seeing him accept an award in Stockholm sometime soon.

[Civic Minded]

I've made it to the I294/ I80 interchange in surprisingly good time.......close to DCHopeNuts 2 1/2 hours.  I'm sure that was on a Sunday though. 

I've also taken 45 minutes to go 3 miles through that interchange.

You are hardly the poster boy for moderate driving speeds...   

[Flying Dutch Fan]

I've made it to the I294/ I80 interchange in surprisingly good time.......close to DCHopeNuts 2 1/2 hours.  I'm sure that was on a Sunday though. 

I've also taken 45 minutes to go 3 miles through that interchange.

You are hardly the poster boy for moderate driving speeds...   

If that isn't the pot calling the kettle black, I don't know what is.

I'm not complaining, I love getting where we're going very quickly.  Plus it's fun to see the expressions on the faces of all those parents and fans we "blew by" on the road.