Illini fans savor victory dream before defeat
Tuesday January 3, 1984
PASADENA, Calif. — Mark Tepper booked his plane reservations for California about 10 minutes after the Fighting Illini said "no mo" to "Bo" and his Michigan Wolverines.
He wouldn't have missed Monday's hoopla for the world, this most fanatic of Illini fans.
"I've got orange blood," Tepper said. "That's it. This is just a dream come true."
Before the brutal reality of a 45-9 UCLA romp intruded, the dream drew thousands of the Illini Family from their homes in Central Illinois, in Long Island, in Dallas, to a football contest pitting two of the nation's premier schools against each other.
The day began with a 2 1/2-hour parade — held up when a float overheated — and moved to the 62-year-old Rose Bowl, which nestles among Pasadena, the San Rafael Hills and the San Gabriel Mountains.
Outside, the Medicare 7, 8 or 9 refreshed the spirits and the Alumni Association refreshed empty bellies and dry throats in a massive tent that literally swarmed with Illini fans.
Inside, the Marching Illini, fresh from a Sunday appearance at the Raiders-Steelers playoff game, performed their traditional entrance and "Three-in-One" before the game and three more numbers at halftime.
"It was pretty," said senior trombonist Rick Welch of Naperville. "I'm glad there are enough Illini fans here. The field's better for us when we have a lot of fans cheering, too."
The Marching Illini were awarded their Sudler Trophy Sunday at the pro game, which was largely populated with UCLA fans.
"Playing was OK," Welch said. "Some of the fans weren't exceedingly receptive."
Tepper is receptive to anything and everything Illini.
Class of '74 in finance, Tepper is vice president of Republic Bank Corporation of Dallas, Texas.
"I saw us play bad," he said of his UI school years. "You don't know how good it can be until you see how bad it can be."
Yet, even when it was bad, Tepper never despaired of his Alma Mater. He told wife Gay, for example, he would wear a wedding band if it actually were a Fighting Illini ring. So, at the Tepper wedding, Gay presented Mark with his wish.
Tepper was entitled to the Athletic Association-issued jewelry because he played UI baseball for two years, although not on scholarship. "That was before I screwed up my knee and took up drinking instead," he said.
Tepper also gained some small notoriety a few years back as the ultimate basketball fan. Since he couldn't pick up a radio broadcast of Illini games in Texas, e called an old school buddy in Champaign who let his radio play into the phone for the whole game.
Monday's Illini-UCLA matchup was Tepper's second game this season; he flew in for the Ohio State heartstopper. He and Gay also went to last year's Liberty Bowl in Memphis, but getting tickets for the Rose Bowl was quite a task for the Teppers.
"We came through the back door to get tickets and we finally came up with two sets," he said. "The ticket situation was tense for a while; I was beginning to think we'd have to watch it on TV."
When last seen, Tepper was sprouting flags from his ears and wearing orange and blue war paint on his face.
But then, Tepper was hardly alone.
The Rose Bowl was Illini orange from the middle of the west side to the middle of the north — a full one-quarter of the stadium. And, except for some near-solid gold and light blue of UCLA's main quadrant, there were splotches and dashes of orange throughout.
Rose and George Smith of Monticello added to the local color. Mrs. Smith, who holds a master's degree in education from the UI, was making her second Rose Bowl trip and noted one major difference between Monday and 20 years ago.
"The people," she said. "Seems like there's a million more. And it's a nicer day."
She and George are regular season fans of long duration. "We've adopted the team," he said. "For many, many years now."
The Smiths combined a trip to Phoenix, where their son lives, with some added miles west and the '84 Rose Bowl.
The Ruvelsons are committed Big Ten fans, even if their allegiances are split. Rita Fishman, who was born at Urbana's Mercy Hospital when her dad was in lawy school at the UI, has a bachelor's degree in economics from the UI and a master's from the University of Minnesota.
Husband Richard is a University of Wisconsin grad. "This weekend has made me an Illini fan," he said.
The couple now lives in St. Paul, and like their Illini brethren from Champaign-Urbana, were enjoying the warm vacation and change of Fighting Illini fortunes.
"I've had a lot of fun," said Rita. "It's a good excuse for a vacation anyway. And when I was in school, the Illinois football team was so bad I had to come out (Monday) and see if it was for real."
The Ruvelsons used pull — a friend who played basketball at Minnesota — to land them tickets.
The Mishloves are similarly hybrid Big Ten. Ed, a 1970 marketing graduate, married Donna, a Wisconsin grad. With orange-shirted Eric, 6 and Petey, 9, in tow, the couple flew from their Long Island, N.Y. home for their first Rose Bowl.
"Illinois and Wisconsin haven't been in too often," said Mrs. Mishlove in understatement.
The foursome arrived to California Saturday and plan to play tourist for a week. They were as daring as can be, not having game tickets until Friday.
Michelle McInnis, a UI freshman studying the viola, at least could console herself with cheap accomodations — she has relatives in Pasadena.
The whole trip the Downers Grove fan said, "is wonderful."
McInnis admits to being a late convert. She had bought a single student season pass and nearly sold it. "Now I'm glad I didn't," she said.
McInnis and a Rantoul friend have 11 days to soak up the sunshine and have been "doing a lot of touring around," including stops at Disneyland and Universal studios.
At the other extreme is Adrienne Noonan, a Champaign housewife and Iowa alumna who arrived in California Thursday night and was leaving for Central Illinois directly after the game, eith an ETA of 2 a.m. Tuesday.
Forget the Iowa connection. "It's hard not to get caught up in it," she said of Illini fan fever.
With so few days, she and her traveling companions — who put together their own tour — have laid back. "We haven't done anything real exciting, although we've been eating a lot."
Find this article at:
