Sunday, September 19, 2010

How I Spent My Saturday...

Hello all, I haven't posted in a long time due to me starting school and getting back into the swing of things. Anyway, I had a pretty fun day yesterday, and I would like to share.



I went to the Gophers game yesterday, they played USC, the Trojans not the Gamecocks. Speaking of which, I think people should stop calling South Carolina "USC", because there is only one USC and it just confuses me when people call the Gamecocks "USC". But I will save this rant for another day. Back to my story. Daytime temps were in the high 50's, so it was a tad bit chilly.

I arrived two hours prior to kickoff, so I was able to enjoy all the activities going on outside the stadium. This was my second time attending a game at TCF Bank Stadium, my first was last season vs. Cal. We got lost on the way there and barely made it in time for kickoff, so yesterday was my first time really exploring the place.



This is a view of the back of the main video board. It is the 13th largest in the world, and from what I can tell, the 4th largest in college football. What I'm trying to say is driving up to the stadium and seeing this thing is pretty awesome. My camera died before the game started, so sadly I don't have as many pictures as I'd like. Surrounding the scoreboard is a nice little area with plants and rocks, it's pretty cool.

One fun thing about yesterday is that Sports Illustrated's college football experience tour was stopped in Minnesota this week. They had a tent and gave away free special edition SI's about college football, t-shirts, pom poms, caps, etc. Dan Patrick was there signing autographs, he seemed like a really nice guy. You could also get your picture taken with the Heisman. The line was really long so I didn't do that. I doubt it was a real Heisman Trophy though. They had that blimp flying above the tent, I took the picture with my phone.

The Big Ten Network also had activities set up to promote some show about the top 50 icons in Big Ten history. They had a gigantic bobblehead of Dave Winfield when he played for the Gophers, so that was neat-o. It was taller than me by a good two feet or so from what I recall.

So after checking everything out on the outside of the stadium, we ventured to the inside. The shape of the stadium is a horshoe, and the "top" of the horseshoe is just an open concourse with more plants and trees and things of that nature. We stood in front of the netting by the goalposts and caught the footballs as they tumbled down the net while the USC kickers practiced.



My uncle has had Gopher season tickets since last season, just because the stadium is the best. The view from the seats is actually pretty nice, and the seats have really thick padding on them, for your butt. But my favorite thing about the seats is that there is a cool lounge for the people that sit in that section. There's a concession/bar area in the lounge too.





The Gophers ended up losing 32-21. Not bad at all. Here are a few more pics to wrap up this post. Look for a report card for TCF Bank Stadium on Stadia Arcadia sometime soon!





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