I went to the game with my son (class of 15). We hit campus around 8:30 Saturday morning and stayed about 14 hours. Aside from the game and the officiating, these are my observations.
Campus is beautiful; town is fun; people are terrific; game day atmosphere is great; stadium and associated logistics are way below expectations.
Campus: old southern architecture on rolling topography make for a beautiful setting. Fall colors in the trees made it even better.
Athens: downtown Athens was fun. Strange that most of the bars didn’t open until 11:00. We were in search of beer from about 9:30 on. Finally found Walker’s Coffee and Pub for some breakfast beers, and locals confirmed it’s the first to open. Hit several other bars when they all opened, and Amici for wings and pizza. Top notch establishments, just open too late.
People: 95% of the Georgia fans we met were great hosts. Lots of “welcome to Athens; thanks for making the trip.” Gave up my seat at one bar for a woman, and her husband would not let me pay for another beer. Good folks.
Once finally in the stadium (see below), the fans were great. Loud when Georgia was on D. Packed in despite the rain. Coordinated in their yells. Light show after 3 quarters. All very impressive.
But the stadium, well, I thought it kinda sucked. Stopped by many hours before kickoff to appreciate the setting and the hedges, etc. All cool. But then we queue up almost an hour before kickoff and we can’t get in the stadium. They funnel tens of thousands of fans through a few narrow gates. Once you finally pass this gauntlet, you have to climb up a stairway that’s way too narrow to accommodate the crowd. Missed the first two series.
Once we finally got to our seats, high in the corner (as expected), I realized that the entire stadium has a grand total of one video screen. And I can’t see it. Between me and the one video board is the concrete housing for the stairway we just climbed. No one in the "visitors section" could see a single replay the whole game (so I couldn’t confirm until later my real-time observations about the officiating). No scores from other games in progress. Needed binoculars to read down and distance on the small ribbon board. Really crappy.
Half time. There are two men’s rooms on the entire upper north upper concourse. Eight urinals each. So about 1,000 guys are lining up for 16 pissers. Worse than 1990s Kyle Field. You want a coke? Here’s your line—definitely no more than 200 people in front of you. Those who complain about concessions or other logistics at Kyle Field should definitely check out Sanford Stadium.
Post game back at the bars, great crowds and continued gracious fans.
I love making road trips and this one was mostly positive, but I am surprised the stadium enjoys such a great reputation.
Campus is beautiful; town is fun; people are terrific; game day atmosphere is great; stadium and associated logistics are way below expectations.
Campus: old southern architecture on rolling topography make for a beautiful setting. Fall colors in the trees made it even better.
Athens: downtown Athens was fun. Strange that most of the bars didn’t open until 11:00. We were in search of beer from about 9:30 on. Finally found Walker’s Coffee and Pub for some breakfast beers, and locals confirmed it’s the first to open. Hit several other bars when they all opened, and Amici for wings and pizza. Top notch establishments, just open too late.
People: 95% of the Georgia fans we met were great hosts. Lots of “welcome to Athens; thanks for making the trip.” Gave up my seat at one bar for a woman, and her husband would not let me pay for another beer. Good folks.
Once finally in the stadium (see below), the fans were great. Loud when Georgia was on D. Packed in despite the rain. Coordinated in their yells. Light show after 3 quarters. All very impressive.
But the stadium, well, I thought it kinda sucked. Stopped by many hours before kickoff to appreciate the setting and the hedges, etc. All cool. But then we queue up almost an hour before kickoff and we can’t get in the stadium. They funnel tens of thousands of fans through a few narrow gates. Once you finally pass this gauntlet, you have to climb up a stairway that’s way too narrow to accommodate the crowd. Missed the first two series.
Once we finally got to our seats, high in the corner (as expected), I realized that the entire stadium has a grand total of one video screen. And I can’t see it. Between me and the one video board is the concrete housing for the stairway we just climbed. No one in the "visitors section" could see a single replay the whole game (so I couldn’t confirm until later my real-time observations about the officiating). No scores from other games in progress. Needed binoculars to read down and distance on the small ribbon board. Really crappy.
Half time. There are two men’s rooms on the entire upper north upper concourse. Eight urinals each. So about 1,000 guys are lining up for 16 pissers. Worse than 1990s Kyle Field. You want a coke? Here’s your line—definitely no more than 200 people in front of you. Those who complain about concessions or other logistics at Kyle Field should definitely check out Sanford Stadium.
Post game back at the bars, great crowds and continued gracious fans.
I love making road trips and this one was mostly positive, but I am surprised the stadium enjoys such a great reputation.
