The CardBoard
Today's Game Atmosphere - Printable Version

+- The CardBoard (https://thecardboard.org/board)
+-- Forum: C-House! (https://thecardboard.org/board/forum-4.html)
+--- Forum: The CardBoard (https://thecardboard.org/board/forum-5.html)
+--- Thread: Today's Game Atmosphere (/thread-14437.html)


Today's Game Atmosphere - 81alum - 09-30-2017

...was great.  Weather was as pleasant as it can be, and finally a game that was played at the time that football games were supposed to be played.  I hopped on my bike at 10:30 and made it across town in time for the team's walk.

Two hours before the game the team came out for its walk to the stadium, paused in the tailgate section, surrounded by parents and the Band on their way to getting dressed.  It was fun to see all the guys.  In days of old they walked to the stadium dressed--now they put on their pads and uniforms at the stadium, so it was a bit different.

1:45:00 before the game there was a chalk talk led by Nathaniel Willingham and Timot Lamarre.  Not the biggest names in coaching, but it was interesting to hear from a couple of the coaches in the trenches.  Willingham coaches outside linebackers and Lamarre assists Ron Gould with running backs.  He called Gould "a legend."  They spent most of the chalk talk diagramming the ASU side so that we would know what to expect from Arizona State.  It was particularly interesting to see them diagram the ASU defensive scheme and explain the nomenclature used to assign our offensive linemen their blocks.  He warned that ASU shifts its defensive line right before the snap a lot to screw up the blocking assignments.  During the game, I could see he was right and that it frequently seemed to mess up our first down runs.

One woman asked whether they would have to modify the playbook for the benefit of Costello, and Lamarre said that Costello was quite advanced, is a bright guy, and has learned rapidly.  I'd have to say that he was right.

The free tailgate had a plethora of food trucks--so the food was not really free, of course, but it is nice for people to have somewhere to go when they are not otherwise engaged in their own tailgates.

When the weather cooperates, the stadium really is a beautiful facility.  I walked a few laps around it on various levels while killing the last 45 minutes before kickoff, and the sight lines are splendid both to the field and to the hills.  August games are not pleasant but late September and October are wonderful.  By the time the game started I felt I had already had a blast, dancing with the band, mingling with parents, getting some exercise biking to the game and lapping the stadium on a gorgeous Saturday afternoon.

The one disappointment was the crowd size.  Stanford claims 44k attendance, but it looked to me as if the stadium could not have been more than 1/3 full.  ASU did not seem to travel well either.  It looked like they had no more than a few hundred fans.  In my area there were a lot of kids who seemed to be having a good time.  There were many swathes of the upper deck which were nearly empty, and the most densely seated areas seemed to be just a little over half full.

The game was close enough to be interesting, with the splendid record breaking performance of Bryce Love, a coming of age story with Costello, and a happy outcome.  One of the best game experiences I've had in the new stadium.  A happy day.

Re: Today's Game Atmosphere - Hurlburt88 - 09-30-2017

I got tix to Minnesota game today and it was also only 1/3 fill.  3-0 team going in, conference game, and great weather.  People have other priorities I suppose

Re: Today's Game Atmosphere - oman - 09-30-2017

Looked great on TV.  Yes, Pac12 early afternoon games are wonderful.

Re: Today's Game Atmosphere - teejers1 - 09-30-2017

Today's game atmosphere reinforced the following things:

Kickoff times should be 4:00 p.m. or later.  It was a PERFECT day in Palo Alto (about 73 degrees and sunny), and the stadium "crowd" was mediocre.  And even on a mild day like today, many sunny-siders sought refuge in the mezzanine/walkway.  If the temps were in the 80s (quite normal for fall), then there would have been even fewer folks braving the sunny side.

The shady side was sparsely filled, too.  We keep hearing how the 7:00 p.m. KO time is too late for blue hairs and kids, yet the crowd size last week was WAY bigger than today.  the student section filled in decently, but talk about a late-arriving crowd.  Again, no comparison to last week.

I realize that UCLA brought more fans than did ASU (and is a bigger attraction); still, the crowd today on a perfect day in the supposed "best" time slot was lame. 

It will never happen, but Stanford should ask for/demand the later KO times for home games.

Bryce Love makes this offense look good.  I doubt he will continue this incredible run, especially in that Stanford will face real defenses starting next week.  But he is fun to watch.  The most fun since . . . D. Nelson?

There should be zero debate about who starting QB should be from here on out.

The Utah game is the h-word.  It will determine whether the season has a chance to remain a good one (or if it will come likely end up around .500).  Hope staff and players are up for it.










Re: Today's Game Atmosphere - CompSci87 - 09-30-2017

It was super hot on the sunny side and I think a lot of fans watched from the concourse instead of their seats.

Thanks for the writeup, 81!

Re: Today's Game Atmosphere - SF_Cardinal_Fan - 09-30-2017

My seats are on the Stanford side of the field, in the corner, second level. Today the hot sun behind us beat down and caused fans to retreat and stand within the shaded concourse area below our section of seats. Next day game I will try to remember to bring a large brim sun hat. The Stanford baseball style cap I wore today did no offer much sun protection.

Re: Today's Game Atmosphere - qwerty49 - 09-30-2017

The Wok has a heat factor the way a winter day in South Bend has a chill factor. Supposedly it was only 71 at kickoff-- but it felt like 81 on the sunny side upstairs.

Re: Today's Game Atmosphere - stupac2 - 09-30-2017

(09-30-2017, 05:52 PM)SF_Cardinal_Fan link Wrote:My seats are on the Stanford side of the field, in the corner, second level. Today the hot sun behind us beat down and caused fans to retreat and stand within the shaded concourse area below our section of seats. Next day game I will try to remember to bring a large brim sun hat. The Stanford baseball style cap I wore today did no offer much sun protection.

How did my seats work out?

Re: Today's Game Atmosphere - SF_Cardinal_Fan - 09-30-2017

(09-30-2017, 06:41 PM)stupac2 link Wrote:[quote author=SF_Cardinal_Fan link=topic=17546.msg203670#msg203670 date=1506819120]
My seats are on the Stanford side of the field, in the corner, second level. Today the hot sun behind us beat down and caused fans to retreat and stand within the shaded concourse area below our section of seats. Next day game I will try to remember to bring a large brim sun hat. The Stanford baseball style cap I wore today did no offer much sun protection.

How did my seats work out?
[/quote]

My section was near empty, so myself and the high school kids were able to  all sit together. Thank you so much for the tickets. :)

Re: Today's Game Atmosphere - 81alum - 09-30-2017

(09-30-2017, 06:09 PM)qwerty49 link Wrote:The Wok has a heat factor the way a winter day in South Bend has a chill factor. Supposedly it was only 71 at kickoff-- but it felt like 81 on the sunny side upstairs.
Yes, a wide brimmed hat makes a whale of a lot of difference.  That and sunglasses....there was a refreshing breeze that came through from time to time.

Re: Today's Game Atmosphere - winflop - 10-01-2017

Sat through the entire game on the sunny side. Just kept drinking water but we were tired when we got home.

Red Zone turnout was pretty disappointing esp after I'd heard they packed the house last week. They missed out.

I agree 1pm kicks can be tough on a warm day but I'll trade them for the endless parade of 5pm+ kicks that is over 60% of all Pac-12 games so far this year