Northern Illinois University | Mid-Michigan Dining

Convocation Center – DeKalb, IL

18 12 2008

1525 W. Lincoln Highway
DeKalb, IL 60115
(815) 752-6831
Website

The Convocation Center on the campus of Northern Illinois University

Here’s another Illinois school’s basketball arena I can cross off my list. Northern Illinois University doesn’t get a whole lot of their basketball games televised. They’re awfully close to Chicago, but not close enough to get a lot of attention from Comcast Sports Net. The MAC doesn’t have a TV package with anyone, so televised games are few and far between in DeKalb.

Southern Illinois University, on the other hand, has a good number of their games televised by Mediacomm (Comcast for Southern Illinois, Missouri, and Iowa). They even do away games which is why I ended up in the rafters at the Convocation Center.

The first thing you’ll notice about the Convocation Center is that it’s not a huge arena. All parking is on site and there’s only one way in where you’re directed to the nearest spot. Once inside, it’s hard to realize NIU is not a Big Ten school. The arena is a scaled down version of a major basketball arena. You walk in on the concourse level between the upper and lower decks. The walkways around the arena are actually an indoor track. The whole area is carpeted and the bleachers push in and out like most high schools use. Hell, there’s even a few luxury suites that open up into the arena with their own private seating section. Read the rest of this entry »

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Tags: Convocation Center, DeKalb, Illinois, Northern Illinois University, Reviews
Categories : DeKalb, Entertainment Venues, Illinois, Live Entertainment, Reviews

Fatty’s Pub & Grille – DeKalb, IL

18 12 2008

1312 W. Lincoln Highway
DeKalb, IL 60115
(815) 758-7737
Website
Menu

Fatty's Pub & Grille near the campus of Northern Illinois University

I have never been so happy to be in DeKalb, IL. I got up early because of the snow storm last night, but I never thought it would be as bad as it was. The roads were awful between Lansing and Kalamazoo. I didn’t think I’d ever make it to where I needed to go.

It was slow going, but I did finally make it. My four and a half hour trip took closer to six. By the time I got to DeKalb, I was exhausted and my day was just starting. I was working at Northern Illinois University where the NIU Huskies were taking on the Southern Illinois University Salukis in men’s basketball. Just before four o’clock, we were released for lunch. No one knew where to go or what was even around. Lucky I did some research before leaving Mid-Michigan.

Fatty’s Pub is located on Lincoln Highway not far from the Convocation Center and Huskie Stadium. We piled into a couple cars and set out looking. I put the address in my GPS, but by the time it found the satellites, we were turning into the parking lot. The building sits pretty close to the road, so you have to go down a little alley to the back. The parking lot and main entrance are located behind the building. Read the rest of this entry »