Around the 'Shoe

Hard to rank them, I'll leave that to the sports writers, but I do have some favorites. All fans think their home stadium is best, but my impressions are based on the entire game experience. I spend a day or two before the game wandering campus and the town, park so I walk through campus with the students going to the stadium, flow out with the crowd, then hit a couple of local night spots for a few brews. Southern stadiums have a very different atmosphere. The women are hotter looking and they dress like they're going to a cocktail party, little black (or red, orange, etc.) dress, spike heels. The best for girl watching is Arizona State in September. Hottest coeds around, showing more skin than a strip joint. Most hospitable for visiting fans is Texas, hands down. Even after a loss fans go out of their way to thank visitors for attending, give advice for best restaurants and bars, nice experience. Second most hospitable is Michigan. Worst game experiences solely due to a large number of very aggressive fans (every school has their share of aholes, but these were way over the top) were at Southern Cal (where we were afraid to make eye contact with other fans because we saw fights break out over just that -- "you looking at me?"), West Virginia (can only get worse now that they sell beer at the stadium), Wisconsin (nuff said), and the Shoe (the row of bars outside the stadium contributes to the goons) -- wouldn't feel comfortable taking my wife to any of these.

Best overall game experience in my 60 years was the ND night game at Michigan. Other notable places I'd definitely go again are Oregon, Clemson, Bama, Georgia, ND, and Navy (Annapolis is a great place). Boulder is a beautiful place, too. My goal, though I will not live long enough to accomplish it, is to attend a game at every D1 campus.

I usually wear a Colorado State Rams shirt, pretty neutral everywhere but Boulder. Fans at UM have been pretty hospitable. Four of us were having dinner at Cafe Zola (great breakfast, awesome bacon, and one of the paintings hanging in the main dining room is of a woman fingering herself), we were eating at a six top bec it was the only table available. We were already eating when a party of six came in, only a single four top table left. We offered to move so they could be seated, and did. When we were finishing our meal the waitress brought out two desserts and a mixed drink for each of us, turns out the UM fans at the six top picked up our tab (over $250) even though three of our group were wearing opponent's jerseys.

My worst experience at the Shoe was the Texas game. When the university pres has to issue a public apology for the behavior of the fans it's ugly.

Southern Cal is dangerous even leaving the stadium. Unlike UCLA which is in a nice section of town USC is in the hood. Outside the stadium we asked a cop where we could pick up a cab. He laughed and said no cab ever came into that area because it's too dangerous, "get inside the crowd and follow them, don't turn left, don't turn right, don't lag behind. About a mile up the road is a hotel where you can catch a cab." No desire to go again.

You'll enjoy Nebraska.

I can only speak from my own experience. How it looks is like spouse preference, very subjective. I'm more interested in function. Every seat in Michigan stadium has a clear view of the field. They don't charge fans to sit in obstructed seats. The atmosphere at the ND night game was impressive. One reason is that they used the video scoreboards masterfully to pump up the crowd, both before and during the game. And what I at first thought were silly yellow pompoms turned the stadium into a pulsing, living creature (wife's description). And to top if off, a ND fan dropped dead a dozen seats away from me and a UM fan pumped his chest until the EMT's arrived. They zapped his heart back, hauled him to UM hospital where they popped a couple stents in and he was able to watch the second half of the game from cardiac intensive care.

Our current times have certainly put a damper on stadium fun. I remember being able to carry a bottle or a keg into a stadium, fans tore down the goal posts, now you can't bring in a bottle of water and there are police snipers on the luxury boxes. Sad.

WRT southern stadiums, it's just a different culture. Many of them couldn't imagine attending a game in jeans and a t-shirt.

You must have been pretty dang close to me because that happened in my section.