Illinois
March Madness: Chicago-area sports bars preparing for Illinois-UConn Final Four game
DOWNERS GROVE, Ill. (WLS) — The success of the University of Illinois Fighting Illini so far in the March Madness NCAA men’s basketball tournament has provided a lot of excitement for people in the Chicago area, but especially for sports bars owned by Illinois alumni, like the Orange and Brew in Downers Grove.
The party was on Saturday night as Illinois fans watched their team secure a spot in the Final Four.
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“Saturday was bedlam,” Orange and Brew owner Eric Schmidt said. “We were absolutely jam-packed two hours before the game.”
The watch party was hosted by Orange and Brew in Downers Grove, owned by Eric and Carrie Schmidt, Illinois alumni who met in school and are now married. In fact, they attended the last time the Illini were in the Final Four in 2005.
They opened their bar eight years ago, catering to some of the more than 50,000 fellow Illini graduates in the Chicago area.
“Illinois has some thing that was very meaningful to my wife and me, and we wanted to make sure we created a space that was welcoming to other Illinois grads,” Schmidt said.
RELATED | Illini merch in demand at Chicago stores as fans prepare for Final Four match
The Chicago Illini Club Is hosting eight different watch parties in the Chicago area for the Final Four on Saturday, including half a dozen city locations as well as the suburbs.
Stefanie Boucher with the Chicago Illini Club graduated in 2007, and now has a daughter in the Marching Illini. She is hosting a watch party at Rep’s Place in Rolling Meadows.
“It has brought in a lot of new business people who didn’t know of Rep’s before the watch parties,” Boucher said.
She says Rep’s was also packed with fans last weekend, and the Final Four party should be even bigger. They expect the same at Orange and Brew.
“Just kind of a slice of Champaign if you will,” Schmidt said. “Someplace Illinois grads and fans can be comfortable.”
At Orange and Brew, they specialize in selling locally crafted beer, but the number one selling beer these days is the I-L-L IPA.
READ MORE | March Madness: Illinois to face UConn in first Final Four in 21 years after teams beat Iowa, Duke
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The Chicago Bears released a statement on Wednesday after Illinois legislators took a step forward with keeping the team in the state.
Shortly after the bill passed out of a House committee 15-5 and then was passed again by the full House, the Bears said the bill is not enough for them.
“We welcome the progress made on the House’s version of the mega project bill; however, additional amendments are necessary to make the Arlington Heights site feasible for our stadium project. We support Illinois leaders as they determine the path forward to making the essential changes to the mega project bill and aligning on infrastructure funding,” the team said in a statement.
The vote on Wednesday came after lawmakers spent weeks working to address concerns and criticism that the bill provided incentives to the team to leave Chicago and surrounding potential revenue shortfalls to area schools if the stadium is built in Arlington Heights.
Despite the team’s dissatisfaction, the megaprojects bill, which would allow the Bears to negotiate property tax payments directly with the Village of Arlington Heights, is headed now to the Senate.
A key piece of legislation designed to keep the Chicago Bears’ stadium project in Illinois is being weighed, and Rose Schmidt has details on what’s in it.
That said, the bill’s lead Senate sponsor State Sen. Bill Cunningham told NBC Chicago’s Mary Ann Ahern that legislators “feel no pressure to take a vote next week” when the Senate returns on Tuesday.
“We will work this bill like any other bill,” Cunningham said.
Though the team is not satisfied with the deal, it seems Illinois Governor Pritzker is.
“Governor Pritzker has been clear and consistent for years that the Bears should remain in Illinois, and that any legislation needs to protect taxpayers. Throughout the past few months, the Governor’s Office brought team leadership, local officials, and legislative partners to the table to craft a deal around public infrastructure improvements, property tax fairness, and affordability measures. Today is an important step, and the Governor’s Office looks forward to working with the Illinois General Assembly to advance a bill that reflects our shared priorities,” Pritzker’s office said in a statement on Wednesday.
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