Finally, back on campus

Well, unfortunately, I wasn't at the Gophers-Air Force game on Sept. 12 to welcome on-campus football back to the University of Minnesota. But, I can proudly say, I watched the entire game on the Big Ten Network; and for me, it was fun seeing a Gopher home game in a setting other than the Metrodome.

The commentators raved all night long about how the stadium "was done right." Still, others have commented to me that TCF Bank Stadium, "looks just like the old one." Well, maybe not EXACTLY like the old one.

Memorial Stadium was the last on-campus stadium at the U of M, vacated in 1981 for the sterile Metrodome a couple miles away. And, there were plenty of things missing in that stadium that are present in TCF Bank Stadium. Memorial Stadium, aka "the brickhouse" had all bench seating. TCF Stadium has about half bench seating, half chair-back seating. However, the University has taken an interesting approach to the bleacher seating. For a little over $40 a year, season ticket holders in the bleacher areas of the stadium can have a stadium seat installed professionally.

This site: http://www.twinsballpark2010.com in a post entitled "A Football Place - Nuts and Bolts" has some good pictures of what the installed stadium seats look like.

And of course, TCF Stadium has a much larger, hi-def video scoreboard, private suites, artificial turf (that really does look like grass) - all amenities that were absent at Memorial Stadium.

Amidst the excitement of being back on campus, and high praise from TV commentators, the opening was not without a few glitches. Many reports said that entry into the stadium was slow - with security measures and all. A big complaint was the concession operations. Apparently, the concession stands at the stadium don't have cash registers. They use a barcode system for each concession item, then add the total on your basic Texas Instrument calculator.

Hmm...almost $300 million to build the place, and no cash registers. Alcohol is also absent from the stadium. You might remember there was a big discussion about alcohol sales at the stadium, whether it should be available in the high-priced seats only, or to everyone. Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty basically put it all into perspective, "it's available to everybody, or nobody." So, they went with nobody.

Parking can also be a nightmare over at the U. Matter of fact, TCF Stadium was built over four very sizable parking lots. Many were told to park in ramps on the west side of the river and take a shuttle to the stadium. You can take the Hiawatha Light Rail to the Metrodome station, and take a Metro Transit bus to the stadium as well.

We will just have to wait and see how the U handles these small little glitches. Hey, every stadium and arena in the country has at least a couple on opening night. And, the university is already dealing with noise complaints from neighbors around the stadium, saying the public address system is too loud.

Perhaps, maybe college football stadiums do concessions and gate entry procedures differently. The Metrodome, the home for the Gophers for the last 27 years, hires union employees to take tickets, sell hot dogs and show people where their seats are. Most if not all of the people working at TCF Stadium, are student volunteers.

It seems that there are some opportunities for the U to ramp up the PR, and do what they can to solve the small glitches as much as they can.

In any event, Gopher football is back on campus, the excitement is back, the Gophers have probably won several fans back, and gained new ones. And, we're undefeated in our new home.

Ski-U-Mah.