FightingIllini.com
The Official Home of University of Illinois Athletics
- Men's Sports
- MEN'S SPORTS
- Baseball
- Basketball
- Cheerleading
- Football
- Golf
- WOMEN'S SPORTS
- Basketball
- Cheerleading
- Golf
- Gymnastics
- Soccer
Fighting Illini Receive Royal Treatment In Los Angeles Area
 |
|
|
Dec. 31, 2007
Throughout its stay in the Los Angeles area, the Illinois football team has been practicing at the Home Depot Center, one of the top athletic facilities of its kind in the country. The HDC houses a 27,000-seat soccer stadium that is home to Major League Soccer clubs Los Angeles Galaxy and Club Deportivo Chivas USA; a tennis stadium that hosts the East West Bank Classic featuring some of the top professional women's players; The ADT Center, a 100,000-square foot velodrome; and a track and field facility that can hold up to 20,000 seats and hosts numerous major track and field meets as well as serving as the home stadium for Major League Lacrosse's L.A. Riptide.
"They've hosted everything you can imagine here from rock concerts to the extreme sports shows like BMX and motocross (at the HDC)," said Clint Dieball, the Rose Bowl Team Coordinator for the Illini. "They have the capability to do just about anything and everything here."
"I can't say enough about the quality of both facilities and assistance we have received during our time in California," said Illinois Head Football Coach Ron Zook. "We have had every need met, and the staff here at the Home Depot Center have really taken us in."
 The soccer stadium at the Home Depot Center, home of the L.A. Galaxy.  |
|
The soccer stadium also is the soccer training headquarters for the United States Soccer Federation National Teams and the David Beckham Academy. In addition to the playing surface, there are 10 soccer training fields - including two artificial surface fields - 42 luxury suites, six event suites and 1,500 luxury suites. Besides soccer and rugby matches, the facility also hosts numerous major concert tours, including Dave Matthews Band, Carlos Santana and Kenny Chesney.
 The tennis stadium at the Home Depot Center. |
|
In addition to these main facilities, the HDC also contains a number of practice facilities, including the practice fields on which the Illini have been training for the past week. The two fields, which are situated next to one another, allow Illinois to hold offensive team workouts on one field while the defense practices on the other. The fields are a short walk from the locker room where the Illini prepare for practice, and even closer to the outdoor weightlifting tent where Illinois has kept up its strength training under the direction of head football strength and conditioning coach Lou Herndandez and his assistants.
"The Rose Bowl really wanted a quality experience all the way around for the teams," Dieball said. "It might be a lot easier and closer to practice at the Coliseum or some other facilities, but they really wanted a high-caliber, fresh facility for the Rose Bowl teams in order to carry on the reputation of having the finest bowl in the land."
Each day, Illinois dresses and prepares for practice mere steps from the L.A. Galaxy's home soccer pitch, and got to look out onto the field during lunch on Saturday. Following that workout, the team was provided with a southern-style lunch of barbecue ribs, chicken, cole slaw, collard greens and cornbread in one of the soccer stadium's event suites that overlooks the field.
 The California Highway Patrol, through an agreement with the Rose Bowl, has been providing police escort service to the Illinois football team wherever it travels while in Southern California. On most trips, there are five officers on motorcycles. These highly trained policemen have provided escorts for presidents and other dignitaries in the Los Angeles area; these men have experience ranging from 10 to 28 years. |
|
"That's a special assignment, a special detail that the CHP uses for VIPs including diplomats, the governor and other high-powered political people," Dieball said. "If teams are coming to town and they need escorts, that's the premier group to go to. We've found over the years that teams that use civilian motor escorts didn't get the same kind of service. They do a great job, and it's really a lot more dangerous than it first appears."
Most of the time, when the Illini use four buses to travel to practice and outings such as the Improv comedy club and Lawry's The Prime Rib, two or three officers will ride in the lane on either the right or left of the buses, with one officer riding point and another trailing. The whole convoy is led by a CHP cruiser.
"This has been probably the most seamless trip because of the help of the patrol officers," said Zook. "It really is impressive how well organized they are in the whole process. We have truly been treated like royalty this week."
While in transit, the officers will rotate riding order as they stop traffic on the on-ramps leading onto the freeways and at busy city intersections. The lead motorcycle will ride ahead to control traffic, allowing the others to move up a spot in the riding order. After the team passes those interchanges, that officer will become the trail rider and the next officer in line will stop at the next on-ramp or interchange.
Perhaps the most impressive process is how the Illini buses, which travel in the left-hand carpool lane on the freeways manage to make the correct exits. About two miles before each exit the team needs to make, a CHP officer will start weaving across the lanes to the right of the buses, slowing down traffic in those lanes. This opens up the freeway and allows the buses to change lanes all the way to the right in order to exit in a group.
"The beauty of this week is that it's kind of a holiday week between Christmas and New Year's," Dieball said. "The team really hasn't gotten to experience the slow, two-mile-an-hour traffic L.A. is known for. "For example, a trip from the HDC to (the team hotel in) Century City would probably take an hour or more in normal conditions, but this week has taken roughly 35 minutes each time. So we're just lucky timing-wise that all of the preparations for this game are between Christmas and New Year's and it's kind of a light week for Southern California traffic."
