Column: Wrigley Field volleyball doesn't go as planned, but made me imagine more

The Brief The Friendly Confines hosted the Big Ten-SEC volleyball challenge. The second match of the evening between No. 1 Nebraska and Missouri was suspended because the playing surface was slippery. It had me thinking more was possible around Chicago, too. So, Sunday night didn't go as planned. The Friendly Confines hosted the Big Ten-SEC volleyball challenge, and Wrigley Field watched a fourth different sport play on its grass in the last three years. Baseball, hockey, football and now volleyball. Sort of. The second match of the evening between No. 1 Nebraska and Missouri was suspended because the playing surface was slippery as the game began closer to 9 p.m. The Tigers and Huskers can make up the game, but it won't be at Wrigley. The primary tenants will be playing for a MLB postseason berth. It doesn't sound like the visitors were too keen on running it back, either. "There's a reason why our sport's indoor, and there's a lot of amazing indoor arenas or football fields indoor or baseball fields that have domes," Nebraska head coach Dani Busboom Kelly told reporters after the match was suspended. "You saw us play one this year, an exhibition. I think there's opportunities to do some incredible things for volleyball. I do not think outdoor is what we should be doing." She has a point. Volleyball isn't an outdoor sport, and perhaps this game gets played if it doesn't start in the late evening. No. 3 Kentucky beat No. 13 Penn State 3-1 and didn't have issues. But, that was always a risk with outdoor events. Weather conditions can change everything. That doesn't dampen what Sunday was. It had me thinking more was possible around Chicago, too. Big picture view: It easy to point fingers. Perhaps it was elementary to expect the humidity to leave condensation on an outdoor, hardwood court when the temperatures fell at a sporting venue adjacent to Lake Michigan. That doesn't take away from how great it was. Primetime volleyball under the lights looked as cool as it sounds. Even Penn State and Kentucky playing as the twilight sun set over Wrigley Field was spectacular, poetic and, putting it plainly, just frickin' cool. The fans made it more, too. All week, Chicago had fans from each of the four programs around town taking in a fun weekend around the city before their main event. Nebraska fans were out in full force. I'm not sure how many of the 43,067 fans in attendance on Sunday were Huskers fans, but I think it's fair to generously say most of the crowd was there for the Big Red. Even when those fans didn't get to see their team play, they enjoyed the time. When Mizzou and Nebraska players were wiping down the courts, fans in the Wrigley bleachers enjoyed belting karaoke classics and watching players have a dance off into the night. If anyone was going to point disappointed fingers, it wasn't any of the 43,067. They were too busy having fun. That's not something every sport can boast, either. The idiosyncrasies of a college football getting suspended would have left fans bleakly wondering what that means for the College Football Playoff hopes. It's comparing apples to oranges, I know. But, this is what separates college volleyball, and most women's college sports, apart from others in the world. Last night didn't go as planned, but everyone will remember it forever. There was too much joy to forget. What's next: Sure, volleyball didn't play at night. But, it did in the afternoon. Everyone was that disappointed they didn't see actual volleyball played and missed the literal volleyball being played a few hours before. This means playing these marquee events at Wrigley can be done. It made me think of what else could be done in this city. Plenty around town and plenty of coaches have wanted an early-season college basketball event within Chicago. Loyola head men's basketball coach Drew Valentine told me two years ago he wanted something like this. Other coaches didn't turn down the idea, but said it was tough to make work. If they could, maybe marquee events like that could consider playing somewhere like Wrigley? It would be in November, which is well after the MLB season, anyway. The weather would need to cooperate, but that's also why you don't play sporting events at night near the lake. They've played college basketball on an aircraft carrier once. Why not a ballpark? Maybe that's thinking too broadly. Maybe it's naïve. But, I saw how fun last night was. Can you blame me for wanting to see more of that around Chicago and within sports in general? The Source: Commentary and background is from FOX Chicago's Chris Kwiecinski.