Can't Wait For Saturday You've got to spend money to make money ... or get the Internet to work

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Greetings from "Can't Wait For Saturday," your morning morsel of college football, courtesy of longtime Illini beat writer, AP Top 25 voter and Heisman state rep Bob Asmussen. He'll give you his views each day on the game he loves.

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Most of the "big news" items during Thursday's media roundtable with Illinois athletic director Josh Whitman won't have close-to-home impact on the fans.

The House settlement, revenue sharing and NIL Go will involve a smaller portion of the program's supporters.

But four items that came up will play a bigger part in how fans will experience games at Memorial Stadium. The beautiful, historic building, which at 100 is just seven years older than Loren Tate, is being modernized in two phases.

First, a new wireless Internet system is going in for the 2025 season, allowing fans to have easier access to social media and various sites. So, if say the game is on Peacock, you can watch both live and on your phone. Cool.

Though I have never sat in seats for an Illinois  game, I can imagine not having access to the Internet would be annoying. I get testy if a takes more than a millisecond for a file to come on my screen at home.

The rest of $20 million in improvements will be done in 2026. Top of the list is a new man scoreboard at the south end of the building. A total of new video displays will be added throughout the stadium.

 The sound system is being updated, with new speakers above their current location, which should make for a more balanced output.

LED lighting is going throughout the stadium. There are also repairs planed for the long set of stairs on the west side of the stadium.

At the south end, the fencing will be taken out, giving the area a more park-like feel.

The upgrades seem to show the administration isn't taking the fans for granted. Whitman and his staff seem to recognize the importance of keeping the fans happy and entertained. One 10-win season shouldn't have changed that.

There is always an option for fans to stay at home and watch the games for free. But there is nothing better than being in the building. Illinois is trying to fill the place as much as possible.