February 2, 2019: UIC

It’s been a long time since I’ve been to UIC, that’s University of Illinois at Chicago just in case you don’t know.  Over the years I’ve been there a handful of times.  I think the first time was for a Monster Truck event; it was held on the same night when Buster Douglas knocked out Mike Tyson.  I’ve been there to watch a hockey game; I can’t even recall the details of that one.  I was there to play racquetball with my future wife, and we had a work bowling outing there as well.  They have done a lot of work to the University since I was young.  They essentially pushed out the old Maxwell Street, although I still do frequent Jim’s for the classic Polish or Pork Chop.  On Friday night, we would watch the UIC Flames men’s basketball team play the Wright State Raiders in a Horizon League matchup.  My mother-in-law works for UIC and had the opportunity for some free tickets.  She passed that info to us; thanks! 

It was a late start time… 8pm, which I thought was kind of strange.  I did a quick bit of research on both teams.  Wright State was 2nd in the league, while UIC was towards the bottom.  However, I did notice that UIC had an awesome home record; I saw the line was Wright State -2… I felt like putting some dough on the Flames.  My son fell asleep on the way there, and was a little groggy as we got into the Pavilion.  But once we got in there, he got into it pretty quickly.  The in-game experience was excellent.  Being used to the Bulls production, this was similar, but obviously on a much smaller scale.  He got to make a sign to hold up, just like at the Bulls game.  They had the intro video and lineup introduction; the court looked like it was on fire with the flames on the scorer’s table screen, as well as, along the border of the stadium.  They had a t-shirt toss; instead of a fancy machine firing dozens of shirts, each cheerleader held a couple.  We didn’t get a t-shirt, but my son did get some stuff.  We got a pair of slippers and a ticket for a free popcorn from the cheerleaders.  We also got a cookie from the “junk food drop”… kind of like the t-shirt drop at the UC.  We also ran into someone from his school whose Dad happens to be the coach of the UIC soccer team.  My son got to go down by the court and meet all the players.  He enjoyed running around with his buddy; he even got to high five all the players as they ran off the court.  My wife and I had a great time as well.  I was a bit surprised to see the beers at United Center prices.  I thought maybe they’d have a keg with plastic cups or something… 

Back to the actual game on the court… to say it was a slow start for the Flames would be an understatement.  It was bad, really bad.  I had an Uncle Rico moment and told my wife “if I hadn’t sprained my ankle, I could have played college ball”… All the Raiders were doing was tossing the ball into this huge dude who was just chucking it up there.  You’d figure his shooting percentage would be a bit higher, but it wasn’t.  He made some buckets, but he wasn’t that good.  At some point later in the first half, UIC finally started making some baskets.  They took the lead, and then held it the entire 2nd half.  It was a nice win, and a great overall game experience.

Afterwards, we had to swing by Jim’s for some pork chop sandwiches to top off the night.  I would definitely go back to a game; it would be nice to bring either his cousins or some other friends also.  The kids would have a blast, and I’m sure the price is right too… although Bulls tickets are pretty cheap nowadays as well.  But at least with the Flames, you’ll get to see a win… ouch.  Until next time… Go Flames!