Announcement:Illini’s long-gone Chief what happened during….
FILE – In this Feb. 21, 2007 file photo, University of Illinois mascot Chief Illiniwek performs for the last time during an Illinois basketball game in Champaign, Ill. (AP Photo/Seth Perlman, File)
Seth Perlman / AP FILE – In this Feb. 21, 2007 file photo, University of Illinois mascot Chief Illiniwek performs for the last time during an Illinois basketball game in Champaign, Ill. (AP Photo/Seth Perlman, File)
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By CHARLES SELLE
PUBLISHED: August 30, 2023 at 11:40 a.m. | UPDATED: August 30, 2023 at 3:40 p.m.
Nostalgia reigns supreme at the University of Illinois. A recent column about the state’s flagship campus entering the football season without a mascot struck a nerve among members of Illini Nation.
They want The Chief back, not that his return is in the forecast, unlike an expected winning gridiron season this fall in the Big B1G, aka the Big 18. The Fighting Illini begin the 2023-24 season Saturday in Champaign-Urbana against the University of Toledo Rockets.
The column earlier this month pointed out that the university along the shore of Lake Erie has a mascot, Rocky the Rocket, while the Illini are one of three in their conference without one. The Rockets play in the Mid-American Conference, which counts Northern Illinois University as a member.
Toledo won their conference last year. Perhaps its mascot helped propel them to victory over the football Huskies 52-32 last year out in DeKalb, home to NIU, which has Victor E. Huskie as its mascot.
