Top of the Morning, Aug. 29, 2023
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With Mike White's Rose Bowl Illini headed back to campus for a 40-year reunion on Saturday, we're collecting stories from fans who enjoyed the ride in '83. Email Jim Rossow at jrossow@news-gazette.com with yours.
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As a junior at the University of Illinois, Tom Primiano had "Bob Uecker seats" for the comeback against Ohio State in 1983, "as far from the field as you can get." It offered a great view of the Garcia's Pizza Flying Tomato hot-air balloon and some nervous moments when Thomas Rooks scooted in with the last-minute game-winner.
"To this day, the loudest sound I ever heard was when Rooks ran for the go-ahead touchdown," he said. "I thought the stadium would collapse with the exuberant cheering and celebrating."
Primiano, a chemistry major who graduated from the UI in '85, is a regular at Memorial Stadium again, — not as a fan but a businessman. Retired from science and teaching molecular genetics at Illinois-Chicago's medical school, he bought Dave's Dogs from his neighbor, Dave Purdy, almost two years ago. On Saturday, you'll find his trailer in the southwest corner of Grange Grove, offering his popular jumbo hot dogs and chili cheese dogs for $5.
"I always wanted to own a restaurant," he said. "It's been an education."
Primiano, who rushed the field after the Rose Bowl-clinching win against Indiana in '83, enjoys Illini games nowadays by listening to Brian Barnhart's radio call while tending to his trailer.
"I'm not that young anymore," he said, adding that "campus has changed tremendously since I was here 40 years ago."
