College gameday experiences according to Garron

My last stop of 2019 brought me out west to the beautiful state of Utah and Rice-Eccles Stadium where the Colorado Buffaloes took on the Utah Utes. Finally getting out of the state of Michigan to see a game, i ended up at a familiar sight, the U of U. I have a history with this place as my mother graduated from the University and i am usually in the state to visit family about 3 times a year. Because of these factors, i have an affinity with Utah Sports, and specifically, the Utes Football team. I have been to Utah games before so this 2019 experience was really nothing new to me. The thing that separates a Utes tailgate experience from the other 4 that i have visited this year is actually the lack of a traditional ‘Tailgate.’ While there certainly is a main tailgate that takes place right in front of the Stadium (Probably a tad bigger than that of CMU but definitely smaller than that of MSU and UM) it fails in comparison to many other power 5 tailgates. This is due to the University’s location right in the heart of Downtown Salt Lake City. There are simply more things to do and Bars to hit up as opposed to going to a tailgate, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, just very different. Rice-Eccles Stadium is probably one of the better venues i have ever been to. The 45,000 seat stadium(currently in the process of a near 5,000 seat renovation), is famous for hosting the Opening and closing ceremonies for the 2002 Winter Olympics and first opened in September of 1998. It has about a half and half Bench/Seat ratio and is home to one of the loudest student sections in the nation, the MUSS. Concessions are abundant and Bathrooms are easy to find. the one complaint i have, and, frankly, have always had, is the narrowness of the concourse. It is so hard at times, especially after the conclusion of games, to maneuver around all the congestion, this due to the extremely narrow concourse. My night was thankfully capped off with a Utah win though so the claustrophobia after the game did not bother me too much. all in all, a gameday experience at the University of Utah is a really fun, unique one that i feel most college fans would enjoy (if you go in November you best not forget your coat). Go Utes!

If you are a follower of this site you are more than likely a fan of College Football. If you are a fan of College Football, You know about the Nation’s largest stadium: The Big House. On Saturday, November 16, i had a chance to personally see this College Football Landmark up close and personal as the aforementioned Michigan State Spartans took on the Michigan Wolverines. It seems that the last 3 posts have been building to this as so far my 2019 Experiences consist of Central Michigan, Western Michigan and Michigan State so i guess it was inevitable that i would round out my Michigan experiences with the state’s crown jewel. Now fair warning before i get into my UM gameday experience, i do not like University of Michigan Sports, at all. So i, to the best of my ability, promise to give you, the reader, the best description of my experience without any sort of bias involved. That being said, UM has definitely been my least favorite gameday experience of the year thus far. Now, that isn’t to say you can’t have a good time there. The Tailgate(s) are massive, much larger than even that of MSU’s, a sea of Maize and Blue can be seen for 3 miles of college neighborhoods leading up to the Big House, and the smell of food was unbelievable with people more than willing to share (if you’re wearing the right colors of course).Personally though, getting around was an absolute nightmare. Starting with little to no traffic control of the surrounding areas, to the complete lack of any sort of cellular service throughout the entire city of Ann Arbor, My getting around experience was kind of a nightmare (MSU losing the game 44-10 certainly did not help my cause). Luckily, the saving grace of my experience was indeed the Big House. If you’ve never seen this behemoth of a stadium in person before, then you’re missing out. The stadium, which opened in 1927, holds the title for largest stadium in the U.S. (and second in the world) with a seating capacity of 107,600. It is big, beautiful, and spacious with plenty of room to maneuver around and find your favorite concession stand or shop. If there was one downside to the stadium, it would have to be the seating, as like many other college football venues, nearly every seat in the stadium is a metal bleacher(so if if you plan on going, be sure to bring a seat-back). Overall, While the overall experience may not have been as good as i had anticipated, it wasn’t horrible by any means. The tailgate was fun, and definitely the largest of the year so far, and the Stadium was absolutely breathtaking. A good recommend even if you, like me, despise UM and a must on the bucket list for any College Football fan.

Stop number 3 on my college game day experience brought me to East Lansing and Michigan State University where the Michigan State Spartans took on the Penn State Nittany Lions. Michigan State University is one of the largest in the nation (50,000) making the tailgate (s) quite crowded. Like would be expected for a university of MSU’s size and caliber, there is not one single location in which the tailgates take place (unlike that of CMU and WMU). A sea of Green and White can be found not only around the stadium, but around the whole campus as well as people can be seen setting up tailgate tents, blasting music and grilling up food literally right net to many of the campus halls. The big separator between MSU and the smaller ventures i embarked on earlier this year is the length of the tailgate. Length meaning how long these things actually last. At smaller schools like CMU and WMU, the tailgates wrap up right around kickoff, if not shortly after. The case is much different When it comes to MSU as their tailgate lasted the length of the game. I love this concept because it gives fans who aren’t attending the game a chance to stay and and keep their Saturday party going. As a CMU student, this is something i would love to see make it’s way to the smaller Division 1 schools. The game itself was pretty much a dud as the Lions stout defense shut the Spartans down. This was not my first time here at Spartan Stadium so there wasn’t much in terms of new experiences. The Stadium is one of the larger ones in College Football with a capacity of 75,000. The stadium opened WAY back in 1923 and has hosted multiple concerts and even a Hockey game played between MSU and Rival, Michigan. Spartan Stadium is definitely a solid stadium in my opinion with really not a bad seat in the house and no signs of wear and tear within the infrastructure. I personally think the stadium looks cooler under the Lights as all the green in the stands really pops out. Overall, MSU may not be having the best performance on the field, but Spartan Stadium and the Michigan State tailgate experience are absolutely worth a visit for any college football fan!

Enter Rivalry Weekend! College Rivalries are some of the most exciting experiences in all of sports. While the premier Rivalry in the state of Michigan is between the University of Michigan and Michigan State, there is another rivalry that gets the State hyped on a Saturday: Western Michigan and Central Michigan. The thing that i believe makes this rivalry so great is just how organic it is. Unlike UM-MSU, WMU-CMU is a rivalry that consists of two schools whose student bodies are primarily made of students born and raised the the state of Michigan. The WMU game day experience is somewhat similar to CMU’s (Check the previous post). The most distinct difference in the tailgate part of game day is that WMU’s parking lots are spread out. Unlike CMU that had two main lots for the tailgate; one for students and one for family/casual fans, WMU has about 4 to 5 different lots where students and fans alike can go wild till game time. There is one particular parking lot that is designated for students but it is rather small and can even feel claustrophobic at times. The tailgate part of the game day experience definitely swings in favor of CMU in my opinion as 2 larger parking lots beat out 4-5 smaller, more congested ones. So far, CMU-1, WMU-0. Where WMU excels is its actual game experience. As a CMU student i would love to see some of the things WMU did (Blackout, Shirt giveaway, and just an overall better presentation and College-Like atmosphere) brought to game days in Mt. Pleasant. Nice restrooms (for a college stadium), and fantastic food options make the Waldo Stadium game day experience a pretty darn good one! CMU-1, WMU-1. Unfortunately for this Chippewa, WMU put a spanking on CMU and won by a score of 31-15. CMU-1, WMU-2. Broncos Win this round.

Obviously this University is my place of higher learning, so fair warning, Bias incoming; I love the Game day atmosphere that CMU provides. The tailgate takes place in two seperate parking lots, a student one, and one for the rest of the fans attending the game. The student lot is spacious and provides plenty of room for tents, thousands of students, Cornhole, and even food trucks (as was the case at the homecoming game this year with Chick-fil-a. And of course there is a multitude of different music depending on which lot you choose to tailgate at. about 30 minutes before kickoff fans start shuffling into the stadium to take their seats. If there were one place for improvement for CMU’s game day experience it would have to be getting students into the game itself. CMU is notorious for having a killer tailgate but not being able to get those tailgaters (mostly students) into the actual game. That’s where the criticism ends though as the students that actually do show up to the game absolutely bring it! The student section is tons of fun and in some cases can actually be quite rowdy! The stadium itself is in good shape for an older venue (opened in 1972). Access to Restrooms is easy and there are plenty of concession stands for fans to fulfill their hungry needs and with a capacity of 30,000, Kelly/Shorts is one of the larger stadiums in the Mid-American conference. CMU’s game day experience is a good one. It definitely has room for improvement but for a Lower-tier division 1 FBS program, it certainly holds it’s own and i would recommend it to any college football junkie who wants to get out of their power 5 comfort zone.