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OT: Stadium Tour

Back in the time of Willie Williams, there was a film crew following some guy around who planned something like this. They were there at VT for our game. I don't know if they ever finished the documentary or did anything with the footage. Seemed a cool idea like yours and I visited their website, but don't recall what it was called.
 
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SayWhat said:
Back in the time of Willie Williams, there was a film crew following some guy around who planned something like this. They were there at VT for our game. I don't know if they ever finished the documentary or did anything with the footage. Seemed a cool idea like yours and I visited their website, but don't recall what it was called.
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Probably not same guy but saw ESPN segment of some guy going to all the different games this past season
 
I've been doing this as well, since I was a young kid. Me and my buddy are trying to accomplish College, MLB, NFL, NHL (only be to a lightning game) and NBA (don't like basketball but will still catch a game for cheap). This year was huge for me went to TAMU, VT and Clemson this year, also caught an Astros game while in town for the TAMU game. I was supposed to go to an guardians game as well but it got rained out. I'm heading to Biloxi after Christmas and will drive over to new Orleans and catch a pelicans game, tickets are only $18. So 5 stadiums in a year also. He is my list.
NFL- Miami, Tampa ray Jay and old sombrero, cowboys at&t, foxboro, falcons new stadium, solider field,
MLB- Wrigley, Fenway, new yankee stadium, PNC and three rivers, minute maid, Tropicana, marlins, rangers Arlington park, braves original turner field, turner field where gsu now plays and truist stadium,
NBA - magic, heat
NHL - lightning
Ncaa- canes OB and hard rock, fau, ucf, usf, fsu, Ohio State, Nebraska, tcu, TAMU, Clemson, VT, Notre Dame,

Still a long ways to go, now that my son is old enough hes tagging along as well. Awesome memories being made. Gonna slow down a little next as we have a new born coming in may, so I might only get 1 or 2 in next year.

Good luck to you on your journey as well.
 
SayWhat said:
Back in the time of Willie Williams, there was a film crew following some guy around who planned something like this. They were there at VT for our game. I don't know if they ever finished the documentary or did anything with the footage. Seemed a cool idea like yours and I visited their website, but don't recall what it was called.
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Tony4Miami said:
Probably not same guy but saw ESPN segment of some guy going to all the different games this past season
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These were the kinds of things that got me interested/showed me it was actually a possible goal. I read a SI article as a kid about a guy who was working on going to his last few college stadiums, but he was also racing the clock as he had a medical condition that was causing him to go blind. There are also a few folks on Twitter who have done all the stadiums or and getting close. A couple of them treat it pretty much as their full-time job and write/blog about it.
 
DunedinCANE said:
I've been doing this as well, since I was a young kid. Me and my buddy are trying to accomplish College, MLB, NFL, NHL (only be to a lightning game) and NBA (don't like basketball but will still catch a game for cheap). This year was huge for me went to TAMU, VT and Clemson this year, also caught an Astros game while in town for the TAMU game. I was supposed to go to an guardians game as well but it got rained out. I'm heading to Biloxi after Christmas and will drive over to new Orleans and catch a pelicans game, tickets are only $18. So 5 stadiums in a year also. He is my list.
NFL- Miami, Tampa ray Jay and old sombrero, cowboys at&t, foxboro, falcons new stadium, solider field,
MLB- Wrigley, Fenway, new yankee stadium, PNC and three rivers, minute maid, Tropicana, marlins, rangers Arlington park, braves original turner field, turner field where gsu now plays and truist stadium,
NBA - magic, heat
NHL - lightning
Ncaa- canes OB and hard rock, fau, ucf, usf, fsu, Ohio State, Nebraska, tcu, TAMU, Clemson, VT, Notre Dame,

Still a long ways to go, now that my son is old enough hes tagging along as well. Awesome memories being made. Gonna slow down a little next as we have a new born coming in may, so I might only get 1 or 2 in next year.

Good luck to you on your journey as well.
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Nice man keep it up! Let me know how New Orleans ends up. Is their stadium still Smoothieking? Kind of unique for a corporate sponsor.
 
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Game: UNC Charlotte 49ers @ Georgia State University Panthers
Date: 9-11-22
Location: Atlanta, GA
Stadium: Center Parc Stadium (Formerly Turner Field (Braves) and Olympic Centennial Stadium
Stadium Total: 28/131 = 21.3% complete

With about 5 minutes left in the 42-0 Ole Miss/Ga Tech game, we figured it was safe to start heading over to Georgia State. We took an uber the 3-4 miles over to Center Parc Stadium. I was pretty pumped for this stadium since I watched Maddux/Glavine/Smoltz/Chipper/Andruw J. play on TBS growing up.

The part I was most excited about was just seeing how they transitioned it from a baseball stadium to a football stadium, and they did a pretty good job imo. The seats were still the faded blue from Turner, which gave it a bit of a nostalgic feel, but the rest of the stadium was renovated. Our tickets were for 3rd baseline - 2nd row. This was around the 50-yard line. Tickets were only around $15 from stubhub. There is also still the Hank Aaron statue outside the stadium.

We quickly realized that you can't see over the GA State players sitting that close, so we moved back. It didn't help that the GA State WBB team was sitting in the first row so we had to try and see over them too. Kinda a funny scenario.

The crowd was solid and very into the game. Charlotte won 42-41 in one of the bigger upsets that week. One of the more unique CFB stadiums I've been to. My second time watching a football game at a baseball stadium and I don't mind it at all.

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OriginalCanesCanesCanes said:
This is an incredible thread. I hope it keeps going for years to come.

Great job @RocketsandCanes I’m vicariously enjoying your experiences.

Please keep informing us of your travels.
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Thanks! It's nice talking to some fellow stadium geeks like me. I enjoy hearing about everyone else's experiences.
 
Game: Ohio University Bobcats @ Western Michigan University Broncos
Date: 10-16-22
Location: Kalamazoo, MI
Stadium: Waldo Stadium
Stadium Total: 29/131 = 22.1% complete

My brother in law is a WMU alum and recently moved back to Kzoo so we made the trip out to see him and caught the WMU homecoming game. Didn't see much of the town since we spent most of the time hanging out at is place. We tailgated before the game and the tailgate scene was solid for the HC game. Good mix of current students and alums/locals. Not too rowdy but enough for some good people watching.

The stadium was fine but left a bit to be desired. Good crowd for the game and the fans were into it. Stadium is set into the ground on one side so you walk down a ton of stairs to get in. But the slope continues on the other side of the stadium if you were entering from over there, which was a bit unique. It was a fairly basic concrete structure. This would be an unfair comparison overall but think a smaller version of the Citrus bowl in regards to its character - not a lot uniquely WMU about it. Their fieldhouse/facilities/indoor area on the right in the field-view photo below was pretty nice looking though. Also fyi no beer sales inside.

I'm sure I'll make it to another game there at some point with my brother in law living there, and I will be happy to give it another go. Hopefully at a night game (CMU/WMU if possible). I've always enjoyed watching games at Waldo on TV.

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Tony4Miami said:
@RocketsandCanes

Have you been to a game in Ypsi? I wanted to go to game this season but didn’t get chance. Hoping to get up there again.
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I have back in 2016. Saw them pay CMU. It's definitely odd watching a game with that grey turf. Kinda feels like you are watching the game in black and white if that makes any sense. Definitely enjoyed it though, even on a cold night.
 
Starting plans for this years' games. It will definitely be a light seasons compared to the last few. My wife and I have a ton of weddings this fall. Fall weddings are the worst. BUT, oddly enough one of them is on Sunday in the Los Angeles area.

Thankfully, that means we are likely going to get go to the UCLA - Colorado game at the Rose Bowl that Saturday. I'm really excited about this as it's obviously one of the most storied venues in sports let alone CFB. It will also be my first PAC-12 game. Glad to possibly get the chance to see UCLA play there before they move to the B10. Hopefully they beat the breaks off of Deion and his band of mercenaries. Tickets go on sale next Wednesday so I'm interested to see what the pricing looks like. They seemingly never fill the place for a regular season game but California prices are California prices usually.

Other than that the focus is on hitting one other new stadium for sure this year, two if I'm lucky. The leading candidates are Iowa (4ish hr drive from me), ND (4ish hr drive), Michigan (5 hr drive), Indiana (5.5 hr drive), Iowa State (5.5 hr drive), and Ball State (5.5hr drive). Ball State would be cool because I would be able to finish off the entire MAC to make it my first conference completed.

Anyone else making some trips to new stadiums this year?
 
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RocketsandCanes said:
Starting plans for this years' games. It will definitely be a light seasons compared to the last few. My wife and I have a ton of weddings this fall. Fall weddings are the worst. BUT, oddly enough one of them is on Sunday in the Los Angeles area.

Thankfully, that means we are likely going to get go to the UCLA - Colorado game at the Rose Bowl that Saturday. I'm really excited about this as it's obviously one of the most storied venues in sports let alone CFB. It will also be my first PAC-12 game. Glad to possibly get the chance to see UCLA play there before they move to the B10. Hopefully they beat the breaks off of Deion and his band of mercenaries. Tickets go on sale next Wednesday so I'm interested to see what the pricing looks like. They seemingly never fill the place for a regular season game but California prices are California prices usually.

Other than that the focus is on hitting one other new stadium for sure this year, two if I'm lucky. The leading candidates are Iowa (4ish hr drive from me), ND (4ish hr drive), Michigan (5 hr drive), Indiana (5.5 hr drive), Iowa State (5.5 hr drive), and Ball State (5.5hr drive). Ball State would be cool because I would be able to finish off the entire MAC to make it my first conference completed.

Anyone else making some trips to new stadiums this year?
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Went to the Big House in 2013. Saw Devin Gardner break the single game passing record and total yards in a game record. 10/10 recommend. Just a cathedral of a stadium. Really impressive. People are nice. Just a good time.
 
RocketsandCanes said:
Tickets go on sale next Wednesday so I'm interested to see what the pricing looks like. They seemingly never fill the place for a regular season game but California prices are California prices usually.
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Update for anyone interested. Turns out UCLA sells general admission tickets in the end zones for most home games for $25 a piece lol. So that's amazing. Parking pass looks like it's gonna be about $30.
 
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Finally getting around to posting my last two new stadiums from last year. The first was the University of Wisconsin.

Game: University of Nebraska Cornhuskers @ University of Wisconsin Badgers
Date: 10/22/22
Location: Madison, WI
Stadium: Camp Randall Stadium
Stadium Total: 30/133 = 22.5% complete

Took the short drive over to Madison from Milwaukee and watched my first Badger game. I'm pretty excited to be able to go to these games more often in the future. Madison is a really underrated city with lots of stuff to do. It is unique being situated between two lakes. The road leading up to the capital building is a great view.

As far as the gameday experience goes, they do a great job. Not a huge parking lot/tailgating scene from what I gathered. More of a park where you can and pregame at the campus bars scene. I parked in some guy's driveway for $20 about a 10 minute walk from the stadium.

Crowd was large and rowdy from start to finish. It was a day game so they must have gotten up early to prep for the game. The highlight of course was watching everyone do 'Jump Around' at the end of the 3rd quarter. I'm looking forward to catching that at a night game in the future because that will just amplify the atmosphere.

I don't remember much about the concessions, but I did catch a pretty good cup of coffee on the walk back to my car from the stadium for the ride home. It was from a place called Indie Coffee (https://www.shopindiecoffee.com/).

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Final stadium if 2022 was Northern Illinois

Game: Miami (OH) University Redhawks @ Northern Illinois University Huskies
Date: 11/17/22
Location: Dekalb, IL
Stadium: Huskie Stadium
Stadium Total: 31/133 = 23.3% complete

Another fairly quick drive down from Milwaukee to Dekalb, Illinois for an absolutely freezing cold mid-week MACtion game. Side note but I love mid-week MACtion. I'm biased being from the midwest and being a Toledo alum, but the games are always entertaining and you never know what is going to happen. I hated them as a student because for the most part they really limited the tailgating opportunities and having to go to class the next day was rough. But they are great as an adult, especially if you are close enough to be able to catch one live during the work week.

As a disclaimer I need to give Dekalb a chance during a warmer time of the year, and I need to actually explore it a little bit instead of just going to the game and driving home. I've been there twice now. Once for this game and once for a basketball game. I refer to this area of around NIU as the "Socialist Soviet Republic of Illinois," because the snow-blown cornfields and mono-color/brutalist looking buildings that make up the campus remind me of what rural USSR would have looked like. There are supposed to be 5 castle-themed buildings on campus but I haven't noticed them.

We went down and ate dinner at a campus bar called Fatty's before the game. Great food and drinks. They had hosted Barstool's college football show earlier in the evening and the place was packed. I was impressed at how efficient and good everything was despite everyone getting slammed during and after during the show. Unfortunately we got there too late to catch the show.

Very small crowd at the stadium, which was to be expected due to it being a ****-near blizzard and a mid-week game. The upside of that is that I believe our tickets were like $6-7 bucks a piece on Tickpick and we sat on the 50 about 20 rows up making for an awesome view. Stadium was pretty basic overall. One thing that I remember not liking was the accessibility between the east stands (where we sat) and the west stands. I can't recall if you just could not walk between the two or if it was just difficult. But I thought that was kind of weird. Another weird thing, a tip this time, is that if you go on a cold day like I did the heat in the bathrooms is blasting. Made for a nice warming break after each quarter.

One thing I love about NIU, both at basketball and football games, is that they sell cheap concessions, including beer. You can buy multiple sizes of Busch Lights at both venues. Some may scoff at a Busch Latte but I am a simple man with simple pleasures and I love a cold Busch Light whenever I get the chance. They have other stuff but too but I stick to what I love. Another off-topic thing but I really like NIU's basketball arena. They have a cool section showing off famous athletic alums and the court has a cool design.

Overall we had a blast. I love gross weather football games in the midwest in the fall. it's what I grew up with and to me that's what real football is.

Didn't take many photos because I didn't want to take my gloves off lol.

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