Because it’s not just about the game, but the whole day! -Traffic was heavier than usual in the hours before the game. I used every trick and side road I knew from West Knox to campus to get down there and it still took me an hour, leaving the house 3 hours before kick. I suspect that was largely due to the game being on a Thursday, but do think about when you make your plans. -Getting into the game was seamless. I got in line and I entered via gate 17 (I think) and was through security, inside and… -Drinking a beer, all within approximately 10 minutes. If the only thing they did this offseason to the game day experience was improving the beer lines, then they hit one out of the entire park and onto Neyland. In fact, before kickoff I able was to buy two beers, eat a Petro and take a leak from 6:10 to 6:40. -I don’t know what happened to the band between the pregames festivities (which were loud (and are still the best in the land)) and the halftime performance, but it sounded like somebody forgot to take the band off mute at halftime. -Using the campus food delivery robot to deliver the whistle to the drum major at the start of of the halftime show was perhaps one of the dumbest gimmicks I’ve ever seen at Neyland Stadium. And I once went to the Kenny Chesney concert there. That the robot didn’t work was the least surprising thing all night. -It is still not clear to me what lights we have that no other school has right now. -The west sideline is very well done. I set out in the 3rd quarter to see if I could get down there and wander around a bit, knowing that I’d probably have to pass security at some point. Sometimes I can pull it off and sometimes I get stopped, but I called my plans off altogether when I got over there and the police were arguing with a couple of drunks about needing a wristband. It was clear they weren’t [uck fay]ing around with event staff. -I still have plans to catch a game upstairs in the new end zone terrace. I will of course report back if I do. -The best place to buy a Petro is Neyland Stadium. Always with the freshest chips and chili. They’re starting to skimp a bit on filling the whole container, but that may depend on your line and vendor. I’m going to be keeping an eye on this development going forward. -I woke up this morning and felt like I drank a gallon of salt last night . Neyland popcorn is back baby! -I still miss paper tickets. For those that went, please share how your game day experience was.
Everything was pretty much seamless. Old guy at gate 16 had some issues scanning my phone, but that was pretty much it. Concessions lines moved really quick. I will say that I felt bad for the people sitting next to me. Their cushioned seats were moldy.
There is my halftime photo. I’ll see if I can post a video too. Edit: might have to be a Tapatalk VIP to post videos. I am not and will not pay to be a Tapatalk VIP.
At one time, they would take those seats out every year. I know only because we snuck into the stadium after the season to take some of our engagement photos and there was a crew removing them. It’s just a couple bolts. I’d imagine emailing the University would get the resolved pretty quick. That shouldn’t be happening,
I’m not sure what else to say about them, honestly. Looked the exact same to me as last year. It’s much better than seasons past, and it makes for good pictures and a better overall experience.
Been a lot of wildly differing experiences with stadium entry I’ve read about. I imagine gate and timing can make a big difference. Also wonder how many were trying to roll in at 6:46
Ya, that's crap. I hope they notified the stadium personnel somehow. Those seats are too expensive not to be maintained and presentable.
I left work early. Came home. Took a nap. Wasn't great, but got job done. Had football practice at 6. Ended practice at 702. Decent practice all things considered. Missed the INT amd TD before I made it to the truck. Got home, turned on DVR, saw said int and td, fast forwarded amd watched live. Pizza Hut pizza (its the kids favorite and I've quit fighting it) was good. Cheese was top notch and pepperoni was good, but not as good as last weeks. Tea was excellent. Reclining couch was comfy as always. Sound was good on TV. Had good cell phone reception. Some issues with daughters homework, but we survived. Post game was fine. Was able to catch ends of Pitt/WVU and Purdue/Rape St. Walk back to bedroom was easy after those. All in all, 8 out of 10 on the GameDay experience. Really tired today. Not in GameDay shape yet. Need to get there quickly. Edit - forgot that I swung by Culver's for a chocolate shake in the way home. Borderline too rich, but still good.
I drove like a maniac home for the game, but worked from home this morning and took off early. I am just drained from my own intensity of viewing a Tennessee game. It's sad.
Lot to be said about good cell service at home. It’s absolutely [uck fay]ing ridiculous that in the year of our lord, two thousand and twenty two, you STILL can’t get good service in and around the stadium. It’s bullshit.
It's simply physics. 100,000 people in one city block all wanting to draw data. The way to handle it would be to have free stadium wifi.
I got so fed up last year with the poor service preventing Twitter updates for injuries that I broke down and bought a pocket radio like it’s the year of our Lord 1987.
I can in theory login to wifi both in Neyland and TBA but it doesn’t work either; but then it’s not a network designed for that purpose I suppose
