In short, it was a great first Stanford sports experience. I showed up to a tailgate dressed in a cardinal red shirt, but was careful not to wear any official Stanford merchandise just yet; I wanted to feel satisfied with the team's performance before giving them the honor of having me wear their name, logo or insignia to a game. The tailgate was great - lots of energy not only for the upcoming game, but for the environment itself. Between the great weather, beautiful scenery and competitive team, Stanford is a fantastic tailgating venue. Though many of my classmates elected to skip the bulk of the game to stay outside and continue the party (and how could you blame them, really?), I decided to head into Stanford Stadium before kickoff and enjoy some Pac-10 vs. ACC football. I'm very glad I did.
The crowd at Stanford Stadium was weak, but the home team's strength made up for it.
I was pleased with Stanford Stadium, but not blown away. It's new, it's clean and it's sizeable - a perfectly suitable venue for a team like Stanford. It is completely devoid of character, but that's not uncommon for relatively new stadiums (see my various pieces of scathing commentary on the corporate blandness of Citi Field, for example), and it gets the job done. The seats were particularly well thought out - while the upper deck has bleachers, they are partitioned into individual seats that make sitting up top relatively comfortable. It has a very steep facade where all of the seats feel right on top of the field, which I thought was fantastic. The crowd wasn't great, but I'll give the Cardinal faithful some slack because it was the day before the official start of classes and the game was against a non-conference opponent who was unlikely to put up much of a fight. Which brings me to . . .
The game itself was a laugher - after being tied 7-7 in the first quarter, the Stanford offense exploded for touchdown after touchdown while Wake Forest failed to find any rhythym. Star QB Andrew Luck torched the Demon Deacons in the air and with his legs (his 52-year TD run was particularly impressive), and the defense shut down an attack that had scored 54 points against Duke the week before. While normally I find blowouts boring, this was a perfect introduction to what Stanford football can be at it's peak - an exciting and explosive passing game, a solid running attack and a better-than-expected defense that can not only stop offenses, but also create turnovers. I saw everything I came to see, from Luck's incredible arm and touch passes to the swarming defense that shut out UCLA in the Rose Bowl last weekend. And, while I normally hate leaving games early, I left after the third quarter (well after the starters were pulled and with the score 55-24) to get some work done, and didn't feel like I missed a thing.
While I hope to have the chance to attend some more competive Stanford football games later this year (I'm very excited for the USC game later this season; unfortunately Stanford plays Oregon and Cal on the road . . .), the blowout was a perfect jumping off point for my in-person Stanford sports career. Next time I make it to a game in a few weeks I'll be sure to bust out the Cardinal red again - and this time, I'll top it all off with a big "S" and a tree.
2 comments:
Luck was definitely stoked after that sweet TD run -- like a pitcher hitting a homer, but hopefully not as rare.
I knew you'd like Stanford.
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