A Good Year for the Outlaw

Last week, I sent an announcer down to Cerro Gordo to call a high school football game, and tried to find him a room so he could spend the night in Champaign-Urbana and cover the Illini the next day.

More on that in a minute. But first, a little background:

Years ago, shortly after I arrived in Peoria, the city won the contract to host the IHSA Boys State Basketball Tournaments. Shortly after that, I was asked by John Butler and Bill Roeder to help with the “March Madness Experience” next door to Carver Arena in the Exhibition Hall of the Peoria Civic Center during the tourney weekends. Over the years, through discussions with those closer to the situation, I came to learn that C-U lost the tourneys to Peoria in part because they gouged on hotel prices during the event.

I found that to still be the case, unfortunately, when I called to get Mark a room this past week. I was told by several hotels that they “had space available”. With each call, I first tried to trade rooms for radio advertising back here in the Peoria/Canton area. Failing that, with each call, I then inquired about “your best rate for Friday”, and got anywhere from $119 to $149. Mind you, these were at hotel/motels that I consider “average” quality. So I started asking, “what is your normal rate”? Only one desk clerk responded with a bit of indignance, saying, “what makes you think this isn’t our normal rate?” But the rest of them, four in all, happily gave me rates anywhere from $30-$50 less for a “non-game weekend” rate.

That’s right, they said it: “Non-game weekend”. Are you kidding me? They are so bold and brazen in C-U on “game weekends” that they can just bump rates by 25-40% and not worry about it? No wonder they all had “plenty of rooms” on a Thursday and Friday of a “Game Weekend” for the Fightin’ Illini.

It’s no wonder they lost the basketball tourney for their cities. Color me unimpressed.