Along66, Jan. 2023: Illinois Tourism in Tournament of Roses Parade

I take these posts from the Route 66 News site which has daily posts on what is going on along our favorite old road.  The site has more information and pictures as well as videos on occasion.  This is the best source for information on Route 66.

I run a month behind time (except when  I do something I came across on my own like the last post on Edwardsville).  I also just pick the stories of most interest to me.

JANUARY 1, 2021

The Illinois Office of Tourism to enter their first-ever float in the Tournament of Roses Parade in Pasadena, California, on January 2.

It is 24-feet tall and has 30,000 flowers.  Also, this took 22,000 volunteer-hours to complete.

--RoadDog

Iowa-Northwestern Football Game-- Part 6: The 1995 Season

Iowa held sway in the early going, building up a 16-0 lead.  And Northwestern was undefeated going into the game?  One of those victories had been in the first game against nationally ranked Stanford.  However, with seven minutes left, the Wildcats woke up and at half the score was 16-10.

We spent the half time thinking Northwestern would make it a game.

At half time they introduced the 1995 Northwestern football team, which had been picked for tenth in the Big Ten, last place at the time)  However, the defeated #9 Notre Dame 17-15 and then, even more remarkable, defeated long-time nemesis #7 Michigan 19-13.  I remember this last game well as Liz and I were in Milwaukee for a friend's wedding shower and the game was just something I had to watch and was soon joined by most of the guys in attendance.

The Wildcats went to the Rose Bowl for the first time in many, many, many years.  unfortunately, it resulted in a Northwestern loss, but the key thing was that they had made it.

Their coach back then was Gary Barnett who ushered in Northwestern becoming a winner.  All the team members who had made it to this game were introduced.

--RoadDog