A few observations on things I haven't seen discussed at length yet.
- I lost faith in Tedford two or three years ago, so the results on the field no longer surprise me. The thing that bothers me is I'm no longer as psyched about the games, and I am no longer as bothered when we lose. Comfortably numb, I suppose.
- One football comment: The handoff to Isi on 3rd and 15(?) with four minutes left in the game sickened me. All it ensured was that: i) we had zero chance of getting the first down (I guess we don't trust our senior QB to get 15 yards?), and ii) a solid minute would burn off the clock, guaranteeing that when we finally did get the ball back, we wouldn't have enough time to do anything. Idiots.
- I love 95% of the new stadium. Congratulations on a job well done. The lowered field, the widened concourses, the way the handicapped section and cross aisles are treated (in section KK, anyway) so that they don't block the view at all...all very nice.
- Unfortunately, the endzone video screens are a disappointment. First and foremost, they are too small, and, literally, the bottom 1/8th of each screen is unused--just blank. Why? On top of that, with the down and distance information taking up another big part of the screen along the bottom, what remains of the video portion is simply too small and ends up looking too stretched horizontally.
Also, the down and distance font on each endzone scoreboard is too small and hard to pick out among all the other clutter. After awhile, I gave up looking at the scoreboard. My suggestion to fix this: Attach small side screens outside the historic frame of the old scoreboard on the left and right sides to show score, clock, down and distance, and timeouts. It could be done so that it looks OK. Then use the ENTIRE screen for video.
- I question the importance of making people walk to a specific gate to enter the stadium, a gate that corresponds to the location of their seat. I had to walk from the north side all the way over the gate 6 on the upper south side. A major buzkill. Part of my enjoyment of seeing a stadium is walking around. Of course, there may be some logistics considerations at play, but would it really kill them to allow me to enter gate 4? Boooo...
- Splitting the band and having a small group of 10-20 go over to the alumni side to play is simply a failure as implemented today. This small band would play at the same time as the big band, yet not in sync (I realize it would be nearly impossible to play in sync), therefore ruining one of my favorite parts of going to the game: listening to our songs. In KK (corner of the southwest endzone), all I heard was cluttered noise. If this small band concept is going to continue, the small band should only complement the main band...i.e., play only when the main band is not playing.
- Shame on Cal for the frequent video advertisements, even the ones disguised as Cal related. In particular, the ad they played in the third quarter that had an education theme and showed a bear at the end with some gold-lettered acronym, absolutely sucked ALL the energy out of the crowd. Pissed me off so much. I don't pay money to go to Memorial to watch television. Everyone got all quiet so they could hear the tripe, and all us lemmings were just staring at the stupid little video screen, and I thought "what a bunch of fools we are to watch that s***." Shame on you, Cal.
- The gold-lettered "University of California" under the pressbox looks classy and awesome. On the other hand, Toyota should be forced to change their logo from red to a neutral color. White would be easier to see, anyway. Is it asking too much for our ad department to insist on ads that aren't red? Can't we take pride in that one simple thing, or does money dictate everything? I've given up on the hope that we won't wear uniforms that make us look like clowns, so can you please throw me this one bone? And don't think I didn't notice the red flags on top of the goal posts...can't they be a different color?
- My AT&T iphone didn't work inside the stadium at all (as I expected). Therefore, the lack of an always-on out-of-town scoreboard is an INSULT to the fans. (If there is one below the press box, I couldn't see it from my seats). This is 2012. You have about 30 different screens to show ads on...you can't dedicate two (one on either side of the field) to show scores ALL THE TIME??? The cynical part in me believes that they only have some dude read a smattering of scores at random times is just so they can say "these scores are sponsored by ___". And by the way, I believe the scores were sponsored by AT&T...I love the irony. If my AT&T phone would work, I wouldn't need your stupid scores read out loud.
- The "Cal Gameday" app recently advertised by Cal (I believe) works OK, and it does have a roster that is stored on the phone (I believe) that has name, number, and position, and that is a little useful, but clicking on a player to learn just a little more about him doesn't work because that data isn't stored on the phone, so the phone searches for a signal, which it then fails to find. If a person is ever going to use an interactive roster like the one provided in the app, it's at the game itself. If the phone has to tap non-existent cell phone service to provide even limited roster information...APP FAIL.
- The library and South Hall were locked tight, but a big thank you to whoever left Evans open prior to the game. The first-floor bathrooms helped me avert a major disaster.
- I, too, noticed the oddly large grey poles that hold up the nets behind the goal posts. If they HAVE to be that large, I would suggest painting them dark blue. They look silly.
- I thought the fake grass looked as good as fake grass can look, including the color of the endzones. Pleasantly surprised there.
- I'm a little disappointed in Blondies for jacking up their prices on gameday through the use of a "rush hour" menu. I'm all for free markets, trust me, but they don't give me lower prices when I visit them at midnight and there's no one within sight. I will keep how you treated me in the back of my mind, Blondie, my friend. And you were at least partially responsible for my side excursion to Evans.
- Thanks to BART for running 6-car trains both before and after the game, that was a real treat. And then, after the game, when the southbound train I was on pulled into MacArthur and about 300 of us got off, it was another real treat to have the then-waiting Pittsburgh/Bay Point train take off right before we could transfer platforms, leaving us to wait about 20 solid minutes. F*** Y** BART. At least you're consistent.
That's all on this very disappointing day.
- I lost faith in Tedford two or three years ago, so the results on the field no longer surprise me. The thing that bothers me is I'm no longer as psyched about the games, and I am no longer as bothered when we lose. Comfortably numb, I suppose.
- One football comment: The handoff to Isi on 3rd and 15(?) with four minutes left in the game sickened me. All it ensured was that: i) we had zero chance of getting the first down (I guess we don't trust our senior QB to get 15 yards?), and ii) a solid minute would burn off the clock, guaranteeing that when we finally did get the ball back, we wouldn't have enough time to do anything. Idiots.
- I love 95% of the new stadium. Congratulations on a job well done. The lowered field, the widened concourses, the way the handicapped section and cross aisles are treated (in section KK, anyway) so that they don't block the view at all...all very nice.
- Unfortunately, the endzone video screens are a disappointment. First and foremost, they are too small, and, literally, the bottom 1/8th of each screen is unused--just blank. Why? On top of that, with the down and distance information taking up another big part of the screen along the bottom, what remains of the video portion is simply too small and ends up looking too stretched horizontally.
Also, the down and distance font on each endzone scoreboard is too small and hard to pick out among all the other clutter. After awhile, I gave up looking at the scoreboard. My suggestion to fix this: Attach small side screens outside the historic frame of the old scoreboard on the left and right sides to show score, clock, down and distance, and timeouts. It could be done so that it looks OK. Then use the ENTIRE screen for video.- I question the importance of making people walk to a specific gate to enter the stadium, a gate that corresponds to the location of their seat. I had to walk from the north side all the way over the gate 6 on the upper south side. A major buzkill. Part of my enjoyment of seeing a stadium is walking around. Of course, there may be some logistics considerations at play, but would it really kill them to allow me to enter gate 4? Boooo...
- Splitting the band and having a small group of 10-20 go over to the alumni side to play is simply a failure as implemented today. This small band would play at the same time as the big band, yet not in sync (I realize it would be nearly impossible to play in sync), therefore ruining one of my favorite parts of going to the game: listening to our songs. In KK (corner of the southwest endzone), all I heard was cluttered noise. If this small band concept is going to continue, the small band should only complement the main band...i.e., play only when the main band is not playing.
- Shame on Cal for the frequent video advertisements, even the ones disguised as Cal related. In particular, the ad they played in the third quarter that had an education theme and showed a bear at the end with some gold-lettered acronym, absolutely sucked ALL the energy out of the crowd. Pissed me off so much. I don't pay money to go to Memorial to watch television. Everyone got all quiet so they could hear the tripe, and all us lemmings were just staring at the stupid little video screen, and I thought "what a bunch of fools we are to watch that s***." Shame on you, Cal.
- The gold-lettered "University of California" under the pressbox looks classy and awesome. On the other hand, Toyota should be forced to change their logo from red to a neutral color. White would be easier to see, anyway. Is it asking too much for our ad department to insist on ads that aren't red? Can't we take pride in that one simple thing, or does money dictate everything? I've given up on the hope that we won't wear uniforms that make us look like clowns, so can you please throw me this one bone? And don't think I didn't notice the red flags on top of the goal posts...can't they be a different color?
- My AT&T iphone didn't work inside the stadium at all (as I expected). Therefore, the lack of an always-on out-of-town scoreboard is an INSULT to the fans. (If there is one below the press box, I couldn't see it from my seats). This is 2012. You have about 30 different screens to show ads on...you can't dedicate two (one on either side of the field) to show scores ALL THE TIME??? The cynical part in me believes that they only have some dude read a smattering of scores at random times is just so they can say "these scores are sponsored by ___". And by the way, I believe the scores were sponsored by AT&T...I love the irony. If my AT&T phone would work, I wouldn't need your stupid scores read out loud.
- The "Cal Gameday" app recently advertised by Cal (I believe) works OK, and it does have a roster that is stored on the phone (I believe) that has name, number, and position, and that is a little useful, but clicking on a player to learn just a little more about him doesn't work because that data isn't stored on the phone, so the phone searches for a signal, which it then fails to find. If a person is ever going to use an interactive roster like the one provided in the app, it's at the game itself. If the phone has to tap non-existent cell phone service to provide even limited roster information...APP FAIL.
- The library and South Hall were locked tight, but a big thank you to whoever left Evans open prior to the game. The first-floor bathrooms helped me avert a major disaster.
- I, too, noticed the oddly large grey poles that hold up the nets behind the goal posts. If they HAVE to be that large, I would suggest painting them dark blue. They look silly.
- I thought the fake grass looked as good as fake grass can look, including the color of the endzones. Pleasantly surprised there.
- I'm a little disappointed in Blondies for jacking up their prices on gameday through the use of a "rush hour" menu. I'm all for free markets, trust me, but they don't give me lower prices when I visit them at midnight and there's no one within sight. I will keep how you treated me in the back of my mind, Blondie, my friend. And you were at least partially responsible for my side excursion to Evans.
- Thanks to BART for running 6-car trains both before and after the game, that was a real treat. And then, after the game, when the southbound train I was on pulled into MacArthur and about 300 of us got off, it was another real treat to have the then-waiting Pittsburgh/Bay Point train take off right before we could transfer platforms, leaving us to wait about 20 solid minutes. F*** Y** BART. At least you're consistent.
That's all on this very disappointing day.