Thoughts on Beaver Stadium Experience
by JGuiher on Oct 16, 2010 10:25 AM EDT
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PrintI've been a member here at BSD for years now. I remember selling Mike a ticket in 2007 so it has to be over 3 years now and I think I was here a while before that. I have seen lots of conversations about what to do when you visit towns for an away game, what the fans are like and where to park and tailgate. Those posts are something I always check out because I love visiting different stadiums. After going to the UCF @ Marshall game the other night, I've been to 34 different college stadiums counting various bowl locations.
For Penn State, I've been to every home game since 1997 when I started school as a freshman, save some in 2002 and 2003 when I lived in Baltimore and was low man at work and couldn't come. Thankfully I kept making my donations and when I moved up at work in 2004 I also had enough points to get some nosebleed season seats.
So, between my love for the live game day experience and my familiarity with Beaver Stadium, I met some guys who run a website that does stadium reviews. They asked me to do a review of Beaver Stadium and quite frankly it was very hard for me to do. I didn't want to be a "homer" so then I got afraid I was going to go too extreme and be too hard on the game day experience here. Hopefully I came across as pretty fair but I am open to thoughts and criticism. I'll post the link just in case anyone cares to check it out.
http://www.stadiumjourney.com/stadiums/beaver-stadium-s386/
PS, I also did this one for Pitt
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Nice review!
I was in a pizza shop on Friday wearing my PSU gear and another alumni asked if I was a fan/alumni. We began discussing the program/stadium/etc. We really do have the best alumni/fan base in the world, its an educated cult.
Here is my take on “the beaver”.
Getting there is a pain, not enough hotel rooms, parking is expensive if not planned in advance, too much piped in music, and they don’t seem to let the game breath like it used to be in the 80s/90s.
All that being said, the tailgating experience is awesome and makes up for the bad I listed above. Once you finally get there, settled, and drinking life is good.
I really don’t like the direction of the PSU gameday experience, getting too corporate and the constant need to recreate a big game atmosphere for every game.
An occasional Whiteout or theme game is fun but not every year. Also after every break in the action, there doesn’t need to be an announcement or music.
Hire Mike Pettine Jr!!!!!!!!
Did you go to the Alabama game?
it was much worse… music was loud and piped in right up until the snap…. i thought PSU was bad but bama was worse…
For the Glory of Old State
Bama
Yes, I went to Alabama and they piped in the music more than us, but IMO it was a better selection then what we use. At least it felt that way to a 1st time visitor.
What bothers me the most about it is you know you are going to get that CCR song if it is raining. Always get shout and sweet caroline (which I f’n hate!!!!!) every week. All of the fun stuff like Zombie Nation that gets the students pumped somehow rarely gets played. The pregame music with ELP’s Karn Evil #9 (Welcome back my friends to the show that never ends…) Kashmir, etc has been the same since 2004. Would be nice to see them try something new.
PS, I swear Marshall had more commercials and “turn your attention to the south end zone” stuff then us!
@collegiatestdms
I liked them both.
STL is dead on on Penn State. Pitt has a very underrated game experience. I’ve never had a bad time at a Pitt game.
Beat Off Week. We're getting 7.5 points.
zing!
"I shoot, I score. He shoots, I score." - Dan Gable
by ClaybornSmash on Oct 16, 2010 11:22 AM EDT up reply actions
He's right about the stadium
There really isn’t a bad seat at Heinz
"He's a beast. But so am I. So let the beasting begin."
Everyone should really get to an Army home game in Oct, nothing like it.
Hire Mike Pettine Jr!!!!!!!!
I would agree
I always list Army as my favorite gameday experience of all time.
I agree with your thoughts above, I wish I could kind of go back and edit my review and add in the part about the constant commercials.
@collegiatestdms
West Point was my first college football experience...
Despite the quality of their teams, it doesn’t get much prettier anywhere else in the Fall. Rich, rich tradition.
House-hunting with Rick Neuheisel in State College since 2005.....
by Artiefufkin10 on Oct 16, 2010 4:02 PM EDT up reply actions
A good friend of mine
is a Navy grad, so I’ve been to a few games in Annapolis. That’s a great gameday experience, too (I’ve never had the pleasure of attending a game at West Point, although I’ve been to a few Navy-Army games at the Linc). The Midshipmen march-on before the game is cool, and there’s always an F-18 or similar flyover as they’re playing the National Anthem. The stadium is small, but there’s not a bad seat in the place. Famous US Naval battles are listed all around the rim of the stadium, which is a nice touch. It’s not as picturesque as West Point, but it’s infused with tradition and charm. Annapolis is a pretty cool town, too.
And so we land, only to find
We never left the ground...
Been in MD for 6 years, still never made it to USNA game...I suck
Hire Mike Pettine Jr!!!!!!!!
by SweepTheLeg on Oct 17, 2010 10:07 PM EDT up reply actions
Good reviews
I think they were pretty balanced. You mentioned no alcohol at Pitt games, if I’m not mistaken I don’t think alcohol is permitted at NCAA games.
I don't think it's permitted at Big Ten games, though,
unless it’s a bowl game. I may be wrong about that.
Save BSD
Correct, there’s no NCAA rule about that. Also, I’m pretty sure there is alcohol sold in Beaver Stadium – in the suites, just not to the regular public.
Well that explains it
…us regular folks don’t get the alcohol. Well, not sold anyways. Lil sandwich bags of Captain is usually my choice of beverage and easily snuck into the Stadium.
"They say in Happy Valley that if God wasn’t a Penn State fan, why is the sky blue and white?" Fortt said. "Who am I to argue with God?"
sandwich bags?
Like, sandwich bags of airplane bottles? Or just Captain poured into sandwich bags? Because the latter sounds…strangely awesome.
the latter
especially in the colder months where jackets are required, you can get all kinds of things into that stadium.
"They say in Happy Valley that if God wasn’t a Penn State fan, why is the sky blue and white?" Fortt said. "Who am I to argue with God?"
I believe the rule is you can take it in and leave it the night before but not game day
there are no alchohol sales at the Beav
Beer
The NCAA leaves beer sales to each conference. I believe the Big 10 has a rule against it for the general fans. You can get alcohol in the club and luxury areas, even at Penn State.
In the Big East, you can get it at Cincinnati and at Syracuse for sure. In fact at Cincinnati, they have almost 3 beer carts to every concession stand.
@collegiatestdms
As soon as...
… PSU rescinds prohibition, along with the rule that if you leave the stadium at half you can’t go back in, I might consider going to a game. Until then:
Their ain’t enough money in my bank or gin in my bottle to return.
NOPE about alcohol at the suites… in fact… at the suites, you are limited exclusively to using PSU Food Services (at something crazy like $8.00 per bag of potato chips, BYOB and what’s worse… your entire entourage of guests must all arrive at ONE TIME and go up the elevator together). After the game, you are limited to 1-2 hours in the suite and it is THANK YOU FOR YOUR MONEY NOW GET OUT time.
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