In how many stadiums have you attended football games...

[cto]

... and which was the best experience? And the worst experience? (Not talking about the game outcome... just about the day's experience).

Watching the Army-Navy game today, I was reminded how much fun it is to attend a game at West Point (Michie Stadium) and was prompted to think of other fun venues (and some that were not so much fun).

I've attended football games in more than 20 venues:
Archbold Stadium,
Polo Grounds,
Old Yankee Stadium,
Old, old Yankee Stadium,
New Yankee Stadium
Met Life Stadium,
Giants Stadium,
Rutgers Stadium,
BC Stadium (whatever it's called),
Yale Bowl,
Rentschler Field,
The old UConn field in Storrs,
Wien Stadium (Columibia),
Michie Stadium,
The Dome,
Ohio Stadium,
Purdue's stadium,
Notre Dame Stadium,
The old Orange Bowl,
The old Cotton Bowl,
The stadium in Orlando for that forgettable Champs Bowl game,
SuperDome,
Rose Bowl,
Foxboro Stadium,
And probably some others.

Tailgating experience? Yale Bowl. First, a huge parking lot surrounds the stadium and is very accessible and very inexpensive. Second, alums of all decades show up with amazing food spreads and set-ups. Everything from linen table cloths, candelabra, gourmet food and fine wine on folding tables ... to set-ups and food offerings that would match the Fine Mess feast. And everyone seems to want to share with everyone else. It's all very old-school... very genteel.

Entire game day experience? Based on attending a Michigan game there when both teams were highly rated, I'd have to say Notre Dame. Interesting campus (an actual tourist destination), very accessible tailgating, and a great game experience (two world-class college marching bands out-dueling each other all day, the ND Leprechaun doing his push-ups after each score, and a 17-17 game that was in doubt until the last second). I am sure the presence of a highly-ranked opponent enhanced the experience, but, hey, it's what I experienced.

Worst experience? Not close. That old Orange Bowl for the 1999 Orange Bowl game. Rat-infested, dilapidated, firetrap in a terrible part of town. That was the last Orange Bowl played there, and the stadium has since been torn down.

 

[orange79]

Archbold, The Dome, Giants Stadium, MetLife Stadium, Michie Stadium, Navy–Marine Corps Memorial Stadium, Princeton University Stadium, Rutgers Stadium, Rentschler Field, SuperDome, Gillette Stadium, The Vet, Lincoln Financial, Yankee Stadium. I didn't realize it was so few - I've got to get out more

Both Michie Stadium (on the field, or parade, or whatever it was called, below the actual playing bowl - just the atmosphere was great) and Rentschler Field (Pratt and Whitney lot - ease of parking and walk to the sterile stadium) were good for tailgating. Best spectacle - watching the Midshipmen march into the stadium. Chilling. I was there during the undefeated season. Not a lot of tailgating, but there was an old (and I mean OLD) woman walking around the parking lot carrying a picnic basket covered with a small red-and-white checked cloth. Inside, she had homemade crab cakes which she served on a saltine cracker for $1 each (special hot sauce optional). They were delicious! I don't know why, but I remember that little slice of life to this day.

 

[HtownOrange]

Though the Dome has my heart - and the best game I saw in person when our Orange beat VATech in '02/'03, I have had better experiences in other places. I enjoyed Cincy's stadium as everyone was close to the game and we could talk with the players and hear the coaches. New Orleans was great, Houston's Texas Bowl was fun and the Syracuse oriented event. Baylor was fun, too. I know I have been elsewhere but cannot recall them all.

The best place I attended a game was in Norman, OK, hands down. I had no dog in the fight (it was OU v OSU) so it was all fun and games for me. It was the day after Thanksgiving and the whole town seemed to be at the game. My friend got tickets to the official tailgate, which was OUTSTANDING! but it was not necessary as many tailgaters were on nearly every lot from about a half mile in to the stadium. You couldn't walk very far without the next tailgaters stopping you to talk about the game (they did forgive me for wearing orange, so long as it was Syracuse and not OSU). The shops around the school and stadium were crazy packed and people buying extra gear just to have enough OU stuff on for the game. The stadium was tight seating on concrete with little numbers and as tightly squeezed together as our own Dome (this was a benefit as it was a chilly day in the open air). The game was a shoot out and the bands were at each other as much as the players. The OSU fans were loud in spite of being seriously outnumbered. We spent about 10 -11 hours at the scene all tolled, and my friend lives just 20 minutes from the stadium.

I look forward to going to the SU/LSU game. That is reportedly one of the best game days in college football.

I lived in Jacksonville, FL and the FL/GA game was supposed to be all that but the UF fans were so obnoxious, I just couldn't get into it.

 

[Moontan]

I've seen college football games in the following venues (would've been more if not for missing most of the 90s):

Syracuse Games
Carrier Dome, MetLife Stadium, Ryan Field (Northwestern), SuperDome (Tulane), Wake Forest, Clemson, Georgia Tech, Raymond James (USF), Silver Dome (Cherry Bowl vs. Maryland)

Other College Games
Swamp (vs. South Carolina), Vanderbilt (vs. Florida), South Carolina (vs. Florida), Georgia Dome (SEC Championship - Florida vs. Alabama)

Most Exciting
Carrier Dome as Syracuse beat #1 Nebraska (Norley to Siano is the most exciting play)

Most Impressive
SEC Championship Game... Wow!

Most Friendly/Accessible Road Tailgating
Wake Forest & USF

 

[OburgOrange]

Archbold, The Dome, Giants Stadium, MetLife Stadium, Michie Stadium, Navy–Marine Corps Memorial Stadium, Princeton University Stadium, Rutgers Stadium, Rentschler Field, SuperDome, Gillette Stadium, Lincoln Financial. I didn't realize it was so few - I've got to get out more

Both Michie Stadium (on the field, or parade, or whatever it was called, below the actual playing bowl - just the atmosphere was great) and Rentschler Field (Pratt and Whitney lot - ease of parking and walk to the sterile stadium) were good for tailgating. Best spectacle - watching the Midshipmen march into the stadium. Chilling. I was there during the undefeated season. Not a lot of tailgating, but there was an old (and I mean OLD) woman walking around the parking lot carrying a picnic basket covered with a small red-and-white checked cloth. Inside, she had homemade crab cakes which she served on a saltine cracker for $1 each (special hot sauce optional). They were delicious! I don't know why, but I remember that little slice of life to this day.

Weren't you at the Pinstripe Bowl/Yankee Stadium? I mean I could have swore we shared a few adult beverages the night before the game ? Oh Lord

 

[orange79]

Weren't you at the Pinstripe Bowl/Yankee Stadium? I mean I could have swore we shared a few adult beverages the night before the game ? Oh Lord

Yup - forgot that one - twice. Must have been those adult beverages.

 

[Crusty]

I am sure I will miss a couple because I am a pre-geezer.

1. Archbald
2. Dome
3. Old Yankee Stadium
4. Old Old Yankee Stadium
5. Polo Grounds
6. New Yankee Stadium
7. MetLife
8. Giants Stadium
9. Yale Bowl
10. Michie Stadium
11. Brown Stadium
12. LA Coliseum
13. Rose Bowl
14. Shea Stadium
15. Jeppesum Stadium Houston
16. Astrodome
17. Rice Stadium
18. Raymond James Stadium
19. Memorial Stadium Clemson
20. Byrd Stadium Maryland
21. BB&T Stadium Wake Forest
22. Carter Finley Stadium NC State
23. EDIT - Forgot FedEx Stadium

West Point is very hard to beat for all around experience. For pure football atmosphere Clemson and Southern Cal take the cake.

 

[OrangeXtreme]

Regular Season
Archbold
The Dome
Giants Stadium
Met Life Stadium
UBuffalo
BC Stadium
Pitt Stadium
The Vet
Rutgers Stadium
Nippert Stadium (Cincinnati)
The Big House
Notre Dame Stadium

Bowl Games
SuperDome
The Big Sombrero (Tampa)
Fulton County Stadium (Atlanta)
Sun Devil Stadium (Tempe)
Gator Bowl
Orange Bowl
BOB (Phoenix)
Yankee Stadium

Misc NFL Games
The Ralph
The Linc
Riverfront
Joe Robbie.

MLB
Old Yankee
New Yankee
Shea
The Vet
Citizens Bank
Riverfront
Wrigley
The Jake
Camden Yards
Tropicana

 

[Moontan]

Out of four mentions, it's only been spelled correctly twice. It's also one of my, admittedly many, peeves. The name of SU's previous stadium is "Archbold".

 

[CanadianSU]

1. Dome
2. Williams Brice. South Carolina Gamecocks

 

[BlackKnight76]

In no particular order

Carrier Dome, MetLife, Old Giants Stadium, The Linc (Army-Navy), Veteran's Stadium, Heinz Field, High Point Solutions Stadium, Williams-Brice, Georgia Dome, BB&T Stadium, InfoCision Stadium (Akron)

I think that's it

 

[OburgOrange]

Dome
MetLife
Yankee Stadium
Tampa Stadium
Bank of America Stadium
(Wake vs UConn bowl game. Don't ask)
Ben Hill Griffin Stadium
Ralph Wilson
Lansdowne Park

 

[Shenexon]

Archbold, the Dome, Yankee Stadium, Fenway Park, Camden Yards, Texas Stadium, Byrd Stadium, Superdome, W&M Stadium, and the Meadowlands. The most memorable was the Nebraska game, though the aftergame is a bit foggy. I recall stopping traffic in the streets but not much else after the game. The worst was the Superdome. I loved being in New Orleans and got to drink with Doug Marrone but the dome seemed like a big empty cavern. The game was the low point of that trip...

 

[MSOrange]

I don't get out much but I will add the Georgia Dome, Atlanta Fulton County Stadium (back when the Peach Bowl was played there) and Faurot Field to the list. I had tickets to see our game vs Iowa at Kinnick Stadium but my body decided it wanted to be in the hospital instead.

 

[JJReddawg]

Carrier Dome
Ralph Wilson Stadium
Superdome
Georgia Dome
Sanford Stadium
Raymond James Stadium
Doak Campbell Stadium
Carter-Finley Stadium
Bobby Dodd Stadium
BB&T Field
Clemson Memorial Stadium

I think that's it.

 

[Forza Azzurri]

... and which was the best experience? And the worst experience? (Not talking about the game outcome... just about the day's experience).

Watching the Army-Navy game today, I was reminded how much fun it is to attend a game at West Point (Michie Stadium) and was prompted to think of other fun venues.

I've attended games in more than 20 venues (Archbold Stadium, Polo Grounds, old Yankee Stadium, new Yankee Stadium, Met Live Stadium, Giants Stadium, Rutgers Stadium, BC Stadium (whatever it's called), Yale Bowl, Rentschler Field, the old UConn field in Storrs, Wien Stadium (Columibia), Michie Stadium, the Dome, Ohio Stadium, Purdue's stadium, Notre Dame Stadium, the old Orange Bowl, the old Cotton Bowl, the stadium in Orlando for that forgettable Champs Bowl game, SuperDome, Rose Bowl, Foxboro Stadium, and probably some others.

Tailgating experience? Yale Bowl, and it's not close. First, a huge parking lot surrounds the stadium and is very accessible and very inexpensive. Second, alums of all decades show up with amazing food spreads and set-ups. Everything from linen table cloths, candelabra, gourmet food and fine wine on folding tables ... to set-ups and food offerings that would match the Fine Mess feast. And everyone seems to want to share with everyone else. It's all very old-school... very genteel.

Entire game day experience? Based on attending a Michigan game there, I'd have to say Notre Dame. Interesting campus (an actual tourist destination), very accessible tailgating, and a great game experience (two world-class college marching bands out-dueling each other all day, the ND Leprechaun doing his push-ups after each score, and a 17-17 game that was in doubt until the last second). I am sure the identity of a highly-ranked opponent enhanced the experience, but, hey, it's what I experienced.

Worst experience? Not close. That old Orange Bowl for the 1999 Orange Bowl game. Rat-infested firetrap in a terrible part of town. That was the last Orange Bowl played there, and the stadium has since been torn down.

Lambeau.

SEC passion that consumes an entire state.

Nothing else has ever come close for me.

 

[MSOrange]

Lambeau.

SEC passion that consumes an entire state.

Nothing else has ever come close for me.

You've been to Lambeau? I bet that was amazing. By the way - do you miss your first born child?

 

[ssbriefcase]

The Dome
MetLife
The Coliseum
Clemson
Folsom Field (CU)
Hughes Stadium (CSU)
Parsons Field (Northeastern)
Husky Stadium, Broncos v Seahawks in between the King Dome being torn down and Century Link being built
Old and new Mile High (high school championships, college and obviously NFL games)

Best tailgate: The Coliseum

 

[NailstheCusefan12]

In no particular order

Carrier Dome, MetLife, Old Giants Stadium, The Linc (Army-Navy), Veteran's Stadium, Heinz Field, High Point Solutions Stadium, Williams-Brice, Georgia Dome, BB&T Stadium, InfoCision Stadium (Akron)

I think that's it

Akron!

 

[Forza Azzurri]

You've been to Lambeau? I bet that was amazing. By the way - do you miss your first born child?

Twice. First game was Packers-Niners when both teams were perennial powers. Favre vs Young in 98.

Second game was Giants-Packers when Warner was Giants QB in 2004.

I have family out there with season tix.

 

[NailstheCusefan12]

Best experience was the Carrier Dome on Friday night when Syracuse beat West Virginia on ESPN. Had a blast at Milan Puskar up until Cuse took down WVU and their fans turned on me. Been to MetLife a few times for Jets and Syracuse games and it's just another stadium. The Ralph is a drunken mess but a good time. Was underwhelmed by The Coliseum when Syracuse played at USC.

 

[Hoo's That]

For college football games - Scott Stadium, Charlottesville (obviously); BB&T in W-S (before it was called that); Keenan in Chapel Hole; Michie Stadium; Navy-Marine Corps Stadium; Byrd Stadium in College Spark; the ancient Kennedy Stadium in Philly for A-N; some stadium in Richmond when we played Clemson w/Cheapshot Charlie Waters back in the day; VMI's stadium; and the Citrus Bowl in Orlando.

College football stadiums when used for MLax - The Dome; JHU's Homerwood in Balt.; Delaware Stadium; Schoelkopf Field in Ithaca; Rutgahs; Wilson Field (Washington and Lee's stadium); Princeton Stadium; Hofstra Stadium; Catholic U's stadium; and Johnny Unitas Stadium, Towson.

The neatest thing was when my Dad and I went to an Army-UVa game at Michie. We tried to get off the Parkway to go in the Highland Falls entrance to West Point and the Trooper wouldn't let us. We went in the northern entrance to West Point and drove through the housing area. Every time and place we kept trying to turn off to park, the MPs wouldn't let us and kept us moving down the road. We finally ended up parking on Howze Field right next to the stadium and every other car there had a special parking permit and we didn't. The kicker was that we didn't get a parking ticket even without the permit.

 

[Toga]

Dome
Archbold
Metlife
Giants Stadium
Yankee Stadium
Michie
The Ralph
Tiger Stadium
Gillette
Shea
Harvard Stadium
Schoellkopf Field - Cornell
Andy Kerr - Colgate
Kenan Stadium- Carolina
Pratt Field - Amherst
Frank Bailey Field - Union
Arizona Stadium
Honolulu Stadium
Bobcat Stadium - Montana State

 

[CU44SE]

Been pretty fortunate in my 26 years so far.

NFL
Lambeau Field (4 times)
Ralph Wilson Stadium (4 times) will be 5th time tomorrow for the Packer game
Raymond James Stadium (1 time)
Old met life stadium (2 times)
Superbowl in Jerry's world (Dallas, 1 time)

NBA
New TD Garden (2 times)

NHL
First Niagara Center (1 time)

MLB
Rogers Center (5 times)


College Football
Carrier Dome (hundreds of times)
Notre Dame (1 time for Cuse game, Not for everyone but I thought it was pretty special pregame)
The Swamp (#2 Florida against #5 LSU, turned into a route but that atmosphere was awesome)
UB stadium (4 times)
Wake Forest (1 time)- small and quant

-Hate to say it, but after experiencing those two game day experiences, not just the atmosphere inside the stadium, but outside the stadium leading up to the game it is easy to see why so many top players go to those schools.

College Basketball
Carrier Dome (as above)
The pete (Got a lot of hate there, but good time)


BEST EXPERIENCE
-Has to be the Superbowl, will never forget that experience. My dad has been to the past 3 Packer superbowls and I had the opportunity to go during their past visit in Dallas. The whole week was a disaster due to the weather and ice storm (you had local news just having video of the highways running 24/7 and then you would see a corvette every 5 or 10 mins trying to drive like it was 85 and sunny and swerving all over the road and getting stuck in a ditch). But the Superbowl is such a big event, I know that sounds obvious but just being their puts it all in perspective. The lines and obstacles to get into the stadium are absurd, I think it took close to an hour from the time we got in line to the time we got into the stadium. Iv never been so nervous in my life, was so excited but did not want to walk out of that stadium after a loss. Wanted that feeling to last forever.

 

[GFTakedown]

Darrell Royal Stadium (UT campus)
Watched a few games there and was impressed with the crowd interaction throughout the game from the "Texas Fight" chants, "Eyes of Texas" song before game and after game, and the "Texas Fight" song sung throughout the game. Tailgating is at a huge level there.