Coldest Playoff Game
- Thread starter DMurph11
- Start date
2000
LW at Maine South. My fingertips never recovered.
LW at Maine South. My fingertips never recovered.
2015 Semis. The Blizzard with all that wind.
Providence vs SH-G 1994 State championship. Bitter cold night game at ISU made worse by SH-G fumbling away a sure win in the last couple of minutes. One of the great what ifs!
It was 1995, but bitter cold definitely describes the scene.
Great seats for a private school game.
MC vs Hubbard in the Semifinals in 2000. I remember being extremely uncomfortably cold on those metal Gately Bleachers. It was a night game so high 20’s but at wide open, no wind block Gately is was probably high teens with the wind at kickoff. Game was extremely hyped up because it was the first time a CPS school made it to the semifinals in 20 years, but MC had a sizeable lead and I was in my car before the 4th quarter.
Played in a semi final game senior year vs Belvidere in 1987. It was absolutely frigid out. The wind chill had to be in the teens. It felt like the wind was blowing all the way from Colorado.Back then I was a tough guy, so of course I didn’t even wear sleeves. Great time and the Hillmen prevailed 35-14 I believe.
Worked for Trio video for about 10 years, orange hat that told game officials when TV was back from commercial.... best gig ever
Sounds like a common theme of semifinal Saturday in 2000. The JC at Pontiac game was frigid as were all other games that weekend.
2004 title game saturday was very wet but not as cold.
More recently, 2018 semifinal Saturday with hillcrest at JC was uncomfortably cold as well. So was last years 4a title game on Friday night between JC and SHG but the wind got still so it was tolerable.
2004 title game saturday was very wet but not as cold.
More recently, 2018 semifinal Saturday with hillcrest at JC was uncomfortably cold as well. So was last years 4a title game on Friday night between JC and SHG but the wind got still so it was tolerable.
Last edited:
The night games of that date, although after the snow, were frigid. In 6A, Crete-Monee travelled to Hinsdale South for a 40-37 win. The temp dropped like a rock between the clear skies and snowpack. Even North Face winter boots were little match for the combination of snow on aluminum bleachers.
All.... The semi in Belvidere 1994 was awful cold. Seems that way always when your team doesn't come out on top. Ratsy
The coldest I've ever been in my life was the 1976 Class 4A Championship game. It was 75 degrees on Thanksgiving morning. A cold front came in early Friday morning. During the Class 3A game an ice storm came through and the temperature dropped. By Saturday morning the wind was blowing in the 20-25 mile range and the temperature had dropped in the low teens. It was the most miserable 2 hours outside in my lifetime. There isn't a single person who was at that game that doesn't agree that it was the coldest they ever were. I'm sure the two teams and their fans who played after us have the same story 46 years later.
In 1991 JCA played Wheaton Central (their last year before becoming WWS) at Wheaton College in a 5A semi-final game. JCA lost 28-6. I was freezing the entire game and regretted every second that I was there. We had to park a mile away, I was not properly dressed for the weather and JCA lost. It was also the last high school game for running back Mike Alstott. Just a miserable experience.
Second choice was the JCA at Pontiac semi-final in 2000. At least JCA won that game (28-20).
Second choice was the JCA at Pontiac semi-final in 2000. At least JCA won that game (28-20).
1991, Boylan vs Mt. Carmel at Gately. I was 12, and so was the wind chill
20DC as in 20 minutes in I was damn cold. Coldest game I’ve ever been at.
For me it would be the 2013 Semi at Edwardsville-I think the temp was 8 degrees-unsure on wind chill. I have heard the 87 semi at East St Louis and 95 2nd round at Boylan were colder.
1995 Class 1A quarterfinal between Sterling Newman and Galena in Galena.
It had snowed the night before and was 20 degrees with a wind chill of 4 at kickoff.
Covering the game as a media member, we watched the first half from a science lab overlooking the football field.
Problem was that the windows steamed up and it was tough to see.
For the second half, me and another sportswriter, went to the sideline and switched off keeping play-by-play and standing next to a space heater.
Newman won 12-8 over an unbeaten and I think top-ranked Galena team.
The pivotal play was on a fourth-and-goal from the 1, Galena tried to run a pitch play to the wide side -- despite having an offensive line that averaged well more than 220 pounds -- and the ball bounced off the halfback's fingertips and was recovered by Newman.
The thing I remember about the ride home, it was in the middle of deer season, was not being able to drive more than 45 mph on the two-lane highway as the deer were running scared and you would come over a hill and encounter a herd of a dozen or so deer streaming across the road in front of you.
It had snowed the night before and was 20 degrees with a wind chill of 4 at kickoff.
Covering the game as a media member, we watched the first half from a science lab overlooking the football field.
Problem was that the windows steamed up and it was tough to see.
For the second half, me and another sportswriter, went to the sideline and switched off keeping play-by-play and standing next to a space heater.
Newman won 12-8 over an unbeaten and I think top-ranked Galena team.
The pivotal play was on a fourth-and-goal from the 1, Galena tried to run a pitch play to the wide side -- despite having an offensive line that averaged well more than 220 pounds -- and the ball bounced off the halfback's fingertips and was recovered by Newman.
The thing I remember about the ride home, it was in the middle of deer season, was not being able to drive more than 45 mph on the two-lane highway as the deer were running scared and you would come over a hill and encounter a herd of a dozen or so deer streaming across the road in front of you.
2013 DeKalb 4A final between Rochester and Geneseo. The last game of the first day and the wind just tore through me. Added bonus was the long walk to the parking lot afterwards. Much farther than when playing in Champaign.
1993 Class 4A State Championship at ISU. Marian Catholic 13 Geneseo 6.
It was about 15 degrees and the field was completely covered in ice.
It was about 15 degrees and the field was completely covered in ice.
Remember watching that on the tv. Was that the Marian team with an RB named Ron Marabel or something like that?
MS @ Bartlett Freshmen 2008 Semifinal
Just a brutally frigid game! I gave MS QB Charlie Goro my ski gloves every time he came off the field. It was probably in the low to mid 20s.
2000 vs. LW Semifinal was also cold. At the end of the game it looked like a snow globe. So great!
Just a brutally frigid game! I gave MS QB Charlie Goro my ski gloves every time he came off the field. It was probably in the low to mid 20s.
2000 vs. LW Semifinal was also cold. At the end of the game it looked like a snow globe. So great!
Dean, I don't remember the '87 game being too cold, but I do know that last year's MC-Thornwood 1st round game in a driving rain storm was terrible. Guessing it was low 40's with a lot of wind. Felt like 10 below once your were soaked.
DGN game two weeks ago was rough, too!
Although I didn’t attend the 1997 quarterfinal between MC and Rock Island at Gately was played in pure snow and ice. Gately was covered in it besides some parts that were shoveled off. I saw a tape of the game a year later. Rock Island and RB Alonzo Wise got the better of the Caravan that day.
I was just about to say this game. I've never been so cold at a football game. Beautiful campus, but the field was totally unprotected from the wind. It took over an hour in the car to get the feeling back in my fingers and toes. The Caravan won, and went on to win state in DeKalb, so I think it was worth the pain.
Reffed a semifinal at sycamore a few years back. So cold my game watch stopped working. Lucky watch got to spend the 2nd half in the locker room
you sure? That was my senior year and I don't remember that. I remember the round 2 game being 60 degrees and sunny as well.
Terence Marabel. He ran for like 2,200 yards and almost 40 touchdowns that year. Couldn't do much on that ice rink in Bloomington though. We slipped all over that field
I was on the opposite sidelines. I just don’t remember it being that cold.
I do remember first round game in 2014 up at Belvidere north. 34 degrees north wind 20 miles an hour. I had never felt so cold.
Next day we went to Geneseo. Beautiful day. Sweatshirt weather.
Next day we went to Geneseo. Beautiful day. Sweatshirt weather.
Thought so - remember practicing in snow. Was my sophmore year. Maybe im wrong though.