CFB51 College Football Fan Community
The Power Five => Big Ten => Topic started by: GopherRock on September 21, 2021, 06:19:44 PM
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This past weekend, I went to Boulder, Colorado for the Gopher game at UC. Thoughts:
-Until Thursday night, I've never been paid to get off a plane. But Delta paid us a fair amount each to do so, to fly to Denver on Friday morning instead of late Thursday night. Living 15 minutes from the MSP airport makes this much easier. My wife and I both feel like we've gotten our pound of flesh from the travel industry.
-Over the weekend, we stayed at a friend's place in Broomfield, near Hwy 36 and the Northwest Parkway. On Friday, after getting our things settled, we went to Boulder and rented E-bikes. I hadn't been to Boulder in almost 20 years, and in the years since I had visited, Boulder has really turned into a bicycling hotspot. As a civil engineer who dabbles in recreational cycling, it's hard to NOT notice it. Trails everywhere, bike lanes in the street that are separated by actual physical barriers, and TONS of all types of bikes. Mountain, road, gravel, hybrids. The amount of bike-and-ped focused infrastructure in and around Boulder and the NW Denver suburbs is much more than just an engineering spec. This is much closer to what Complete Streets policies are intended to do. It takes dedicated, high-level strategic decisions by the cities, counties, and Colorado Legislature for this to really be a thing.
-On Friday night, our friends had bought tickets for a bluegrass concert at the Chatauqua Auditorium, a park/converted summer camp on the mesa above Boulder. By summer camp, think Dirty Dancing-esque camp. I don't know what the name of the band was, but after a long day it was a very enjoyable concert to relax to.
-Saturday morning dawned VERY early. So early that you couldn't buy beer. We headed up to the UC campus to pregame. We arrived early in the 7 AM hour, and beat the clerks to the parking lots. We'd paid for ours in advance, but no one from UCPTS came around to scan credentials or check passes.
-The others in our group had decided to make the 14-hour drive out to Denver for the game. In their rig contained the buckets (making their 4th road game appearance), as well as a recently obtained large flattop grill. Before the game started, we had a very large crowd of Gopher fans around our tailgate spot. One of the guys has taken great pride in using the flattop to cook a very large quantity of pancakes, French toast, and bacon. He may have been worried about leftovers, but by the time we went up to the stadium, nothing he cooked went in the trash can. It was an effort that @utee94 (https://www.cfb51.com/index.php?action=profile;u=15) would appreciate.
-This road game was quite an affair. I saw several people whom I hadn't seen in many years, and their current environs were from all over the country. Also, every flight between the Twin Cities and Denver on Thursday and Friday (and back Sunday and Monday) were full of Gopher fans. The northwest quadrant of the stadium was full of Gopher fans, with others in chunks scattered all over the place.
-The CU campus is quite friendly. The exterior is all
-Between the 11 AM MDT start time and the ass-whooping administered by the Gophers, it really took the vinegar out of the crowd, if it ever existed. As I overheard several times, no one can remember the last time there was a morning game in Boulder. Students had a pretty good turnout (filled most of their section), but were largely gone by the end of the 3rd quarter.
-Folsom Field is the 16th stadium in which I have seen a Division 1-A football game. The homes, in no particular order:
Minnesota x2
Iowa
Wisconsin
Michigan
Nebraska
Ohio State
Maryland
Iowa State
Washington
Texas
Vanderbilt
Missouri
Arkansas
Tennessee
Colorado
-I've said that Washington is the prettiest setting in college football, but Colorado and Utah have to be 2A and 2B. Just a gorgeous setting at the base of the Flatirons and Wasatch Ranges, respectively. The stadium itself is easy to move around in, even with a solid home crowd. Concession lines weren't obscenely long.
-I've mentioned that Weather was nice at the start, but it got REALLY hot by the end of the game. Also, the altitude was a factor. Unlike heat in Minnesota, where there is always a certain amount of background humidity, heat at altitude is tinder dry. Everyone was thirsty and hot at the end of the game. Fortunately, we had a lot of water in our coolers back at the parking area. We stuck around until about 4
-I don't know if anyone hustled down to the Spring for Air Force-Utah State in the nightcap, but I know there was some chatter about doing so.
-We did end up going back to where we were staying instead of Colorado Springs.
-Sunday we had entry passes for the Bear Lake area of Rocky Mountain National Park, and we did a couple miles of hiking. I fancy myself to be in pretty decent shape, but hiking at 9,000 feet above MSL is an ass-kicker. I could definitely feel that the air I was sucking down had a lot less oxygen than I was used to.
-Estes Park is a sister city to Wisconsin Dells and Gatlinburg, Tennessee. Kitchy tourist central.
-Denver International Airport was ridiculed from all quarters as a horribly expensive boondoggle when it was being built and opened in the mid-90s. However, with the completion of the RTD rail line and virtually no issues with airfield congestion in the 25 years since it opened, no one is complaining any more. Fun fact: Ames Construction out of Minneapolis did almost all of the grading for DIA.
-6 AM flights are for the birds. I did work after got home yesterday morning, and my sense of time was all blown to pieces.
Overall, a very fun trip.
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Gator would be proud of this GR.
I ws thinking about early starts in Boulder, not too many I can think of. Just a couple 11:30s in the old Phillips 66 big 8/xii TV deal years ago.
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Gator would be proud of this GR.
I ws thinking about early starts in Boulder, not too many I can think of. Just a couple 11:30s in the old Phillips 66 big 8/xii TV deal years ago.
That's 'cause UT and A&M were kicking off at 10 AM local time every year so that you assholes could have the 2 PM game. We put up with that crap for almost a decade.
Anyway, awesome writeup @GopherRock (https://www.cfb51.com/index.php?action=profile;u=47) , you'd make gatorama proud. Sounds like you had a great time, and certainly came away with an excellent result.
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that 10am kick was a "national" game
quit bitching
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I enjoy reading these stories, keep'em coming.
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That's 'cause UT and A&M were kicking off at 10 AM local time every year so that you assholes could have the 2 PM game. We put up with that crap for almost a decade.
Anyway, awesome writeup @GopherRock (https://www.cfb51.com/index.php?action=profile;u=47) , you'd make gatorama proud. Sounds like you had a great time, and certainly came away with an excellent result.
Love it - oh us assholes,BTW awesome write up....:D
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My kids drove in for my Bday, which was nice, I was musing with my daughter about the UGA-Tech game we saw in Athens in 2019. It was cold, about 38°F with light drizzle.
It was warmer in Columbus, Ohio, where she lives. Tailgating was almost nonexistent.
Warm weather fans.
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Excellent write up GR. Brings back fond memories of our lost friend.
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that 10am kick was a "national" game
quit bitching
What type of bovine is Ralphie?
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Excellent write up GR. Brings back fond memories of our lost friend.
Yes!
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-Folsom Field is the 16th stadium in which I have seen a Division 1-A football game. The homes, in no particular order:
Minnesota x2
Iowa
Wisconsin
Michigan
Nebraska
Ohio State
Maryland
Iowa State
Washington
Texas
Vanderbilt
Missouri
Arkansas
Tennessee
Colorado
-I've said that Washington is the prettiest setting in college football, but Colorado and Utah have to be 2A and 2B. Just a gorgeous setting at the base of the Flatirons and Wasatch Ranges, respectively. The stadium itself is easy to move around in, even with a solid home crowd. Concession lines weren't obscenely long.
I think you left Utah off your list. You said 16, then listed 15, then talked about the setting at Utah which isn't on your list.
Pretty cool list. I've seen games in all of those except:
- Washington
- Texas
- Vanderbilt
- Mizzou
- Arkansas
- Tennessee
- Colorado
- Utah
I have seen games at the home stadiums of:
- ASU (Fiesta Bowl when it was still at Sun Devil Stadium)
- Miami, FL (Orange Bowl)
- UCLA (Rose Bowl)
- VaTech
- Rutgers
- Maryland
- Penn State
- Michigan State
- Indiana
- Purdue
- Illinois
- Northwestern
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What type of bovine is Ralphie?
as we should all know.............
Ralphie is a COW!!!
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That Ralphie that's out there now, just a baby.
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Are any of the bovine mascots steers? Texas?
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Well you certainly wouldn't want a Longhorn bull on the sidelines. Ever met a Longhorn bull in person?
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that's why Bevo is a steer and not a bull
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that's why Bevo is a steer and not a bull
Yup.
Shoot, even as a steer, he can get pretty feisty. He almost gored Uga the bulldog at the Sugar Bowl a few years back.
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I think you left Utah off your list. You said 16, then listed 15, then talked about the setting at Utah which isn't on your list.
The 16 comes from seeing games at both of Minnesota's home venues (remember the Humpty Dump?). I also have a list of home stadiums that I've been to but not yet seen a game at.
Utah
California
Oregon
Oregon State
Hawaii
LA Coliseum
Rose Bowl
Michigan State
Northwestern
Purdue
Also, Ralphie had more rushing yardage in the pregame and halftime runs than the rest of the Colorado team.
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Sounds like this Ralphie is a heifer.
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And it sounds like Austin fully encapsulates the Texas stereotype set forth by the Full Metal Jacket drill sergeant.
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Never saw that movie, what did he say?
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And it sounds like Austin fully encapsulates the Texas stereotype set forth by the Full Metal Jacket drill sergeant.
Drill Instructor, the Army has sergeants.
Full Metal Jacket 4K | I Am Your Drill Instructor Mashup | Warner Bros. Entertainment - YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PerFdIrDBBQ)
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My son's mom asked him how Basic was, and he told her to watch FMJ.
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a movie I've actually watched
it was OK