As I mentioned earlier, I was on campus for the first time in 10 years. Brought my 5 year old for his first football game and was hoping to buy him a shirt and a Victor E. stuffed animal. First, I was disappointed to see the bookstore was closed. I understand it's probably not profitable to operate the bookstore on a Saturday but this is just another example of NIU being small-time. You gotta have a team store open on game days.

If not, then you definitely need a team store at the stadium. I found one "store" (which was just a table with some hats and shirts) on the west side. They looked at me with confusion when I asked if they had kids sizes. If there were other locations selling merchandise, they did not direct me towards them.

Other than that, I was actually surprised by the atmosphere on the west side. Seemed pretty full to me and the crowd was into it early on. The student turnout was weak, as usual. Without the HS bands in attendance, the east side would have been an eye sore. Student pride has always been an issue at NIU. 90% of my dorm floor would roll their eyes at me for trying to get them to tag along to football games. I thought the multiple MAC championships and Orange Bowl appearance would change that but it apparently has not. In fact, attendance has gotten worse since my time there in the mid-2000's. I'll never fully understand it, but losing to in-state FCS teams certainly does not help. I'm sure this has been discussed ad-nauseam over the years.