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Re: Stadium Environment? - FarmBoy - 10-03-2011

I was at the Washington game in 2000. I was a young alum, so I hung in the student section. It's hard to believe there were more than 10,000 people there by the end, despite it being a fantastic game. I think there were only a hundred or so in the student section, aside from the band. But it was some of the most fun I've had at a football game.

Re: Stadium Environment? - JeffInCorvallis - 10-03-2011

I was at the Utah game in 1989.  We actually had an aftershock during the game but I didn't feel it.  A lot of people were still jittery about the whole thing.  Remember, the Bay Bridge was shut down when a part of the cantilever section fell onto the lower deck.  If you had to travel from the East Bay or farther you weren't real excited about getting out and traveling, even on a weekend.  Nobody knew if the San Mateo bridge was next.  I was living in Mountain View at the time so it was no big deal.

Best part for me was hearing the defenses and the sidelines calling out the coverages during the game.  A lot like being at a high school game.



Re: Stadium Environment? - Leftcoast - 10-03-2011

On the question about whether Saturday's game was a sellout  - Stanford was still selling tix at gametime but there were signs on the ticket window stating they only had upper level corner seats available.  So not technically a sellout but close enough for TV purposes.

Re: Stadium Environment? - raja - 10-03-2011

It was the first time in a long time (and a non-Big Game situation) that I can remember as a season ticket holder that I actually had to pull out my tickets and try and figure out what exact seats our group of 20 season ticket holders had.

Because this time, there were actual butts in the seats on all sides of us.

I don't know if every single seat was sold at gametime, but I can say that I was shocked at the fact that the stadium seemed FULL.

And while it's true that a few fans here and there left as the score margin got larger... I was also shocked that as I looked over to the shady side, even on the upper bowl... even in the 3rd and 4th quarters... butts were *still in the seats*.  All the way to the end of the game.

I was pretty pleasantly surprised.  And pretty happy about it.

- MC

Re: Stadium Environment? - terry - 10-04-2011

Official attendance was 50,360, which is over the listed capacity of 50,000.

Re: Stadium Environment? - Renaissance Man - 10-04-2011

"Washington State, 2008 -- attendance 26,662. A Noah's Ark-type deluge. I was there."

I was there as well, and I would have a hard time believing that there were more than 5,000 people in the stadium.  My family and I were approached by a Stanford PR employee, as we sat huddled in seats under the overhang that are usually reserved for handicapped seating,  and asked if we would mind being the "Season Ticket Holders of the Game."  We were the only season ticket holders he had been able to find.  We were taken onto the field, filmed for the big screen, and given a football signed by Harbaugh and an umbrella.  We got to see ourselves an the screen later in the game, smiling and waving to an empty stadium.  I have a football, with Harbaugh's signature, as well as a notation of the date and the opponent of the wettest game I have ever sat through sitting on a shelf in my man-cave.



Re: Stadium Environment? - washingtonismoney - 10-04-2011

re: Wazzu game--it looked like a ton of people were taking refuge under the concourse.

Re: Stadium Environment? - mark3k - 10-04-2011

WIM is right, from what I recall.

Re: Stadium Environment? - Leftcoast - 10-04-2011

I wonder what the true capacity of the stadium is?  The overly round "50,000" has always seemed suspect.  If we were still selling tix with 50,360 inside then we either had a lot of sideline observers, pressbox visitors or .... ?  As far as I can tell Stanford doesn't sell standing room only tickets.

Nice discussion to be having in any case.

Re: Stadium Environment? - pefloresjr - 10-04-2011

According to the guy I know in the ticket office, Stanford sometimes oversells the general admission sections, especially in the lesser games of the three game plans.  They know that some people are just buying the hot ticket and eating the others.  I think there really were 50k who entered the gates but there is a late arrival/early exit/roaming about the concorse factor that accomodates the extra people in the GA sections. 

Cheers,
Pete F. 

Re: Stadium Environment? - terry - 10-04-2011

I believe the highest attendance we've had in the new stadium was 51,607 at the SC game last year.

Re: Stadium Environment? - JeffInCorvallis - 10-04-2011

Back when the stadium was being renovated there was some talk about setting up temporary bleachers for big demand games like Big Game, perhaps on the grassy area on top of what used to be the closed end.  Seems like this year we might (finally) be able to use something like that for the Oregon and K.al games.  Has that plan been scrapped?  As I recall, there was much weeping and gnashing of teeth over the fact that K.al would get a smaller ticket allotment for the Big Game.

Frankly, for the last several years it hasn't been an issue.



Re: Stadium Environment? - Treebound - 10-04-2011

The tickets on the Skydeck are standing room, Leftie.  Although, from what I remember, there were a number of bar stools to use as well.  Yes, we did hear that they could add bleachers up on the end caps.

As for the WSU game, I remember the water just pouring off the upper deck with quite a few leaks into the concourse.  It was only the diehards at that game and we were soaked! 

The students are fired up, as well they should be.  These are epic times for Stanford football and I'm enjoying every minute of it! 

Re: Stadium Environment? - terry - 10-05-2011

(10-04-2011, 08:14 PM)JeffInCorvallis link Wrote:Back when the stadium was being renovated there was some talk about setting up temporary bleachers for big demand games like Big Game, perhaps on the grassy area on top of what used to be the closed end.  Seems like this year we might (finally) be able to use something like that for the Oregon and K.al games.  Has that plan been scrapped?  As I recall, there was much weeping and gnashing of teeth over the fact that K.al would get a smaller ticket allotment for the Big Game.

Yes, when the Stadium's design was first announced, there was some talk about adding temporary bleachers above the end zones. By the time construction was completed, however, I don't recall any more talk about that. I have a somewhat fuzzy recollection of being told by an insider just before the stadium's opening that the stadium as constructed didn't readily provide for temporary seats. I think the grassy area with the arches and palms is one of the nicer things about the stadium. I wouldn't want to lose that.

Re: Stadium Environment? - terry - 10-05-2011

(10-03-2011, 04:22 PM)Farm93 link Wrote:you are proof of the lack of Stanford fan toughness.

Yeah, you're right, people like me are the problem with Stanford football. If only Stanford football weren't cursed with wussy fans like me, the program could really take off!

Re: Stadium Environment? - Farm93 - 10-05-2011

Terry,

Your loyalty is not in question with me.  I thought I made that pretty clear, really.  Rather in this BCS bowl land Stanford is not a powerhouse with thousands of diehards willing to pay big money and then show up to see their team day or night, rain or shine through blizzards, hurricanes and earthquakes.  In BCS bowl land they need and want crazies, and lots of them.  You stayed home after an earthquake.  Logical move, but the D1 football world is driven by fanbases with a touch more drive to support the team at literally any cost.

Let's say you attended every other game in the last 30 years.  Cool, but Stanford needs 70,000 like that person to compete with LSU, Michigan and OSU loyalty.  While fans in the stands should not serve as a proxy for team quality, in football they clearly matter.

Not that it really matters, for the moment Stanford sold 50,000 tickets for the UCLA game.  Given where Stanford was five years ago, that is a major improvement, even if 50% were gone by the start of the 4th quarter.

BTW - I put myself in the same wussy category.  And I would put almost everyone on the board in the same category as I suspect few Stanford fans have attended a Stanford game in sub-zero temps on a Thursday night like you will see in the B1G conference. 

Re: Stadium Environment? - Rando - 10-05-2011

Well  the thing is Stanford wasn't as good back in the day. If the same thing occurred now, there would be a lot more asses in the seats. People will go out of their way to see a top 10 football team with bad weather. Not so much for a middle of the road or cupcake team.