No worries for me. I rarely took my phone in Neyland (few times I did was to get pic of grandkids before they were old enuff to have phone or pic of inside stadium). I have to take it now, but only to get in. I download tix to wallet at home where I know it will take no time. Don't GAS if they have wifi or cell service in Neyland. I never take my phone on golf course. <insert "OK, Boomer" gif>
I have ATT and actually had pretty good service in the stadium last night, to the point that I wondered if they had done something to improve cell service. I was able to get on here and Twitter with no issues. My wife was sending/receiving picture messages and posting videos on Facebook.
Coming through the gate about 45 minutes before kickoff was simple. I went in through the Truly tailgate area, stood in line for a couple of minutes to get through the metal detector (they had two at that gate) and then immediately walked up to one of the scanners. Had added my tickets to my Apple Wallet so all I had to do was have it open and put it near the scanner. It wasn't any worse than previous years, but I still prefer a paper ticket. I've saved my ticket stubs for every game I've attended since I was a kid, which at this point is probably over 200. My dad has a collection of stubs going back to the 70s. I don't like that we can't collect them now.
Also, had metal in my pocket that didn't trigger the metal detector and they weren't doing pat downs any more which will make carrying booze into the stadium even easier.
I had to listen to half the game in the car on my drive to the beach. It’s interesting to hear Kesling’s call, then actually see the video footage of the same play later. He’ll say something like “…Hooker hands it to Small…Small scratching, clawing, wrestling…fighting for a few yards….” And you get the sense that there’s no push, no hole, damn thing’s stuffed at the line of scrimmage…soft, sorry asses… then you watch the actual play without Kesling and it’s like, Small inside zone, nice hole, 6 yards before contact, and then he’s tackled.
That was me. Probably approached gate about 6:35. I generally go in 45 min to an hour early but was with a big group of friends that never get to see each other at a tailgate. It was pretty brutal, they had most gates closed. I’ve only been to two games since 2015 so no idea if that’s normal or not. They moved as quickly as they could though so I’m not complaining. Was still in my seat with a beer for kickoff.
Paging @Ssmiff , lol. In the defense of all radio broadcasters that cover the game, play by play men have always taken liberties with the on field action for the purpose of generating excitement and drama. In today's reality though, whatever it is that Bob Kesling does from the microphone is no better than that which a foreigner could accomplish while witnessing his first game.
I'm looking to take my son to his first game. Was going to do Ball State cause that's where both my in-laws went. Didn't work out being a Thursday game, but still looking at something this year, probably Akron. Kind of disappointed it's purely e-tickets now. Not for some boomer, "I don't trust tech" reason. They just make great souvenirs. I still have the stub from my first game.
