MSOrange
2020 Cali Award Winner, Regular Season Record
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Louisville was the football game I've ever attended in the Dome. We moved from Syracuse to Georgia when I was 11 in 1987 and now live in Kansas. While my mom and dad are fans and watch all the games on tv, they aren't quite as fanatical as I am. Traveling long distances isn't the easiest for me in my wheelchair, but I convinced them to go back for a game before it was too late as they are getting a little older.
We couldn't make it to the Fine Lot like I had planned because my mom cracked her pelvis when she fell a few weeks ago. But she's an amazingly tough lady and used her walker the whole trip. She knew how much I was looking forward to it and battled through. We parked at Skytop and took the shuttle to the Dome. The shuttle driver was excellent. It takes a certain personality to work with people who need a little extra time and this guy definitely had it - a slight contrast from the our Niagara Falls tour driver a few days later.
We got to the Dome and our seats were in section 113 in the wheelchair section. I knew when I bought them that one of the seats was separate from my wheelchair and the companion seat next to it, but it was clear on the other end of the row in front. But one of the ushers came up to us and saw the three of us were together and looked at her chart showing which seats were sold. There were three empty seats all together a little further down in the wheelchair section and she let us sit there. That was awesome of her; it made it much more fun to sit together. The seats were on about the 10 yard line behind the Louisville bench. They were awesome seats and a great view of the field. People are right when they say there aren't bad seats in the Dome for football. I had a little trouble with the perspective of how many yards were gained on each play when they were at the other end of the field, but when that's the only thing to complain about it, that's really good.
It's been awhile since I've gone to a live football game. My last one was our game vs Missouri in Columbia in 2012. But it really is a different perspective than you get on tv. On the first play from scrimmage, I could definitely tell it was bad news when I saw how open the Louisville receiver was. I'm not much of an X and O guy, so I'll leave that to the experts, but it was deflating to go down 21-0 so quickly. I was proud of the effort to hang in there and only be down 14 in the 4th before they pulled away. That would have been huge if we could have done something on the drive coming out of halftime. I didn't think Dungey had his best game, but it's easy for me to forget this is the second game of his sophomore year and he basically played half of last year. Plus, like I said, I'm no expert so it may not have been all on him anyway. I'm still really excited about Dino and willing to be patient. I'm certainly not going to change my opinion on that after 2 games. He has a plan that's been successful and it's just going to take time to build it. I love the offense. There aren't too many game I can think of where we've been behind the whole time and I still found really exciting and saw things to be encouraged about. But this was one.
Regardless of whatever you want to say about the attendance, the people that were there were fantastic. The crowd noise is really deceiving on tv, because there are times when I've commented at home how quiet it seems. I'll never say that again, because I was really impressed. It really got loud several times to the point where I couldn't hear my dad right next to me, so great job to the fans.
As for the Dome itself, I thought the photos around the concourse were really well done and it was fun to see the retired jerseys and everything else they have hanging in there for 2003 and the lacrosse championship banners. We bought 2 brats and a hot dog. The food wasn't the greatest stadium food I've ever had so there is probably an opportunity to improve that. But we also didn't go around and look at every option that was available besides outside the gate we were sitting, so it might be better at other places in the Dome. Wi-fi worked fine for me which was nice to check stats. I'm not sure if there was a scoreboard behind where we were sitting that we couldn't see, but there does seem to be an opportunity to improve the scoreboards and and statistics in the Dome. They showed some individual stats throughout the game on the ribbons boards but not as many as you might expect at more modern stadiums. It seemed like they could have shown more replays also, but my dad didn't feel that was an issue. So maybe I missed some and they had more than I realized.
On Sunday morning, we stopped on campus before heading to Niagara Falls. I wanted to see if the Melo Center was open. I should have realized it might not be on the weekend and we should have tried on Friday, because it was locked. We could see a guy working at his desk in the coaches wing. My dad asked if I wanted him to knock on the window to get his attention, but I told him I doubted he was working on Sunday to help play tour guide. That was the one part of the trip that I was disappointed about, because I may never be back. But life goes on.
We went down to the IPF and took photos of all the statues in Plaza 44. I really think they did an excellent job with that. Very cool to recognize our great history so well and prominently. Then we went to take a picture of the Ernie statue. I don't care if it took a couple tries to get it right. Nobody will care about that in the years to come. But, they will be able to see a statue of Ernie Davis for years to come and people can pass his amazing story from one generation to the next when they walk past it. Thank you Orangeyes!
We couldn't make it to the Fine Lot like I had planned because my mom cracked her pelvis when she fell a few weeks ago. But she's an amazingly tough lady and used her walker the whole trip. She knew how much I was looking forward to it and battled through. We parked at Skytop and took the shuttle to the Dome. The shuttle driver was excellent. It takes a certain personality to work with people who need a little extra time and this guy definitely had it - a slight contrast from the our Niagara Falls tour driver a few days later.
We got to the Dome and our seats were in section 113 in the wheelchair section. I knew when I bought them that one of the seats was separate from my wheelchair and the companion seat next to it, but it was clear on the other end of the row in front. But one of the ushers came up to us and saw the three of us were together and looked at her chart showing which seats were sold. There were three empty seats all together a little further down in the wheelchair section and she let us sit there. That was awesome of her; it made it much more fun to sit together. The seats were on about the 10 yard line behind the Louisville bench. They were awesome seats and a great view of the field. People are right when they say there aren't bad seats in the Dome for football. I had a little trouble with the perspective of how many yards were gained on each play when they were at the other end of the field, but when that's the only thing to complain about it, that's really good.
It's been awhile since I've gone to a live football game. My last one was our game vs Missouri in Columbia in 2012. But it really is a different perspective than you get on tv. On the first play from scrimmage, I could definitely tell it was bad news when I saw how open the Louisville receiver was. I'm not much of an X and O guy, so I'll leave that to the experts, but it was deflating to go down 21-0 so quickly. I was proud of the effort to hang in there and only be down 14 in the 4th before they pulled away. That would have been huge if we could have done something on the drive coming out of halftime. I didn't think Dungey had his best game, but it's easy for me to forget this is the second game of his sophomore year and he basically played half of last year. Plus, like I said, I'm no expert so it may not have been all on him anyway. I'm still really excited about Dino and willing to be patient. I'm certainly not going to change my opinion on that after 2 games. He has a plan that's been successful and it's just going to take time to build it. I love the offense. There aren't too many game I can think of where we've been behind the whole time and I still found really exciting and saw things to be encouraged about. But this was one.
Regardless of whatever you want to say about the attendance, the people that were there were fantastic. The crowd noise is really deceiving on tv, because there are times when I've commented at home how quiet it seems. I'll never say that again, because I was really impressed. It really got loud several times to the point where I couldn't hear my dad right next to me, so great job to the fans.
As for the Dome itself, I thought the photos around the concourse were really well done and it was fun to see the retired jerseys and everything else they have hanging in there for 2003 and the lacrosse championship banners. We bought 2 brats and a hot dog. The food wasn't the greatest stadium food I've ever had so there is probably an opportunity to improve that. But we also didn't go around and look at every option that was available besides outside the gate we were sitting, so it might be better at other places in the Dome. Wi-fi worked fine for me which was nice to check stats. I'm not sure if there was a scoreboard behind where we were sitting that we couldn't see, but there does seem to be an opportunity to improve the scoreboards and and statistics in the Dome. They showed some individual stats throughout the game on the ribbons boards but not as many as you might expect at more modern stadiums. It seemed like they could have shown more replays also, but my dad didn't feel that was an issue. So maybe I missed some and they had more than I realized.
On Sunday morning, we stopped on campus before heading to Niagara Falls. I wanted to see if the Melo Center was open. I should have realized it might not be on the weekend and we should have tried on Friday, because it was locked. We could see a guy working at his desk in the coaches wing. My dad asked if I wanted him to knock on the window to get his attention, but I told him I doubted he was working on Sunday to help play tour guide. That was the one part of the trip that I was disappointed about, because I may never be back. But life goes on.
We went down to the IPF and took photos of all the statues in Plaza 44. I really think they did an excellent job with that. Very cool to recognize our great history so well and prominently. Then we went to take a picture of the Ernie statue. I don't care if it took a couple tries to get it right. Nobody will care about that in the years to come. But, they will be able to see a statue of Ernie Davis for years to come and people can pass his amazing story from one generation to the next when they walk past it. Thank you Orangeyes!
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Thanks for the coin Mark!
