To thy happy children
of the future
Those of the past
send greetings
It was a homecoming of sorts this past weekend when a bunch of my old friends and I made the trek down to Chambana (Champaign + Urbana = Chambana, or Shampoo Banana if you like) for the Ohio State – Illinois match-up. Illinois went into the game 26 point underdogs. How did they finish? Sure, they lost, but only by seven points and they sacked the OSU quarterback a number of times. All in all, there’s hope for the future of Illinois football.
Suffice it to say, with that kind of match-up we weren’t exactly there to watch the football game. We hadn’t all been together in some time so we thought this would be as good a time as any to all hang out and reminisce of our glory days at Illinois. On top of that, I was able to take Clare around campus this time with me.
Things are pretty much the same on campus as when I was there. The Quad still looks the same, the Alma Mater (pictured above) is still in one piece, and the Morrow Plots are still next to the Undergrad. There were however, small details that seemed out of place. For instance, they now have a Chipotle, Noodles & Co., Potbelly, and Starbucks on campus. How, exactly, are college kids supposed to afford these things? I could barely afford La Bamba’s and a Murph burger while I was in school. Now they have actual eating establishments on campus? Ridiculous.
Other than that and a few small things, things really haven’t changed. Girls still forego coats in the middle of the winter on their way to the bar, guys are still drunk meatheads, and you can still see them all walk home at 9 o’clock the next morning. The Murphy’s mega bacon cheeseburger is still tops, although their fries can be a bit hit or miss at times. You can still get three t-shirts for the price of one at T.I.S. and beer is still cheap as hell down there.
Really the only thing missing was Preacher Dan on the Quad and everyone running after Thunder for his mandatory ass beatings. It was a good time and hopefully we’ll do it again, but with kids here and on the way, those trips may have to wait a little while. It was nice to go back to where so much had happened, that home away from home from so long ago. I really was a happy child of the past, and I have the memories and friends to prove it.
