- Joined
- Aug 26, 2011
- Messages
- 9,378
- Reaction Score
- 34,278
Had a good time at the game and thought the experience was very good. I haven't been in several years and I noticed lots of positive changes despite the lesser on field product (which was pretty good yesterday) A few observations:
Good:
1. Access was very good and police were very friendly. BDL to the Rent is so easy. Great convenience for incoming teams: 6:30 am flight from South Florida, got rental car and arrived at the Rent an hour and fifteen minutes before kickoff.
2. Parked at Aircraft Club, thanks to FDNY's advice. Piece of cake, nice tailgaters all around.
3. Vendors were good overall. I like the food trucks because those people own the business and they aim to please unlike employees at most stadium concessions. However, I have to say that the employees serving pretzels and chicken fingers etc. from the non-food truck venues were great as well. Just really good service all around.
4. Ted's burger was very good. Again, very friendly staff. I had to try it for tradition sake and was very happy with it. Good bun, perfectly steamed and fresh burger, hot fries. Bear's pulled pork was good. Not perfect, but good quality, friendly service, wife and daughter liked it. I tried a bite and was impressed. Again, this is stadium fare. Excellent when considering that fact.
5. Beer selection: Wow! That was pretty much like a football game broke out at a beer tasting. Two Roads Session IPA was very nice. I walked around the whole stadium curious to see how many beer stands there were, they just kept coming. No lines, again, friendly and fun service. Lots of folksy older people running taps and some mom's raising money for project graduation etc. Maybe it is because I make friends with strangers and joke around a lot, but I found all of them thrilled to talk and have some fun.
6. DJ--great play list of classic tunes for breaks, big plays etc. The girls liked it.
7. Stadium and crowd were pretty quiet and lots of empty seats but big plays still got a good roar. So much potential just beyond our current grasp. Given the morning start and lousy play headed in, not bad though. We can bring this back quickly.
8. Band is great.
Bad:
1. Big Red leading the chant pregame. It just wasn't full enough to do it. Too forced. Let it come organically as the team improves. He deserves better.
2. I'm certain several thousand tailgaters never came in, ever. They could have really elevated the atmosphere another level.
3. Need more gear selection. Stands were good but lacked some specific things we wanted heading in, particularly some classic UCONN navy blue, zip front hoodies. Bought a bunch of stuff, but got nothing we had planned on getting. Would have spent way more. Maybe put different stuff at different stands.
4. The band needs to get a little edgier with more pop covers and things that make the crowd move. We need energy coming from wherever we can get it. (Again, band is really good and I am not complaining, just wanted more high energy songs in the mix)
All in all, a great day. My wife and kid agreed it was a good time too. While it isn't what it once was, it won't take much to fix it. Feel pretty good after yesterday.
Good:
1. Access was very good and police were very friendly. BDL to the Rent is so easy. Great convenience for incoming teams: 6:30 am flight from South Florida, got rental car and arrived at the Rent an hour and fifteen minutes before kickoff.
2. Parked at Aircraft Club, thanks to FDNY's advice. Piece of cake, nice tailgaters all around.
3. Vendors were good overall. I like the food trucks because those people own the business and they aim to please unlike employees at most stadium concessions. However, I have to say that the employees serving pretzels and chicken fingers etc. from the non-food truck venues were great as well. Just really good service all around.
4. Ted's burger was very good. Again, very friendly staff. I had to try it for tradition sake and was very happy with it. Good bun, perfectly steamed and fresh burger, hot fries. Bear's pulled pork was good. Not perfect, but good quality, friendly service, wife and daughter liked it. I tried a bite and was impressed. Again, this is stadium fare. Excellent when considering that fact.
5. Beer selection: Wow! That was pretty much like a football game broke out at a beer tasting. Two Roads Session IPA was very nice. I walked around the whole stadium curious to see how many beer stands there were, they just kept coming. No lines, again, friendly and fun service. Lots of folksy older people running taps and some mom's raising money for project graduation etc. Maybe it is because I make friends with strangers and joke around a lot, but I found all of them thrilled to talk and have some fun.
6. DJ--great play list of classic tunes for breaks, big plays etc. The girls liked it.
7. Stadium and crowd were pretty quiet and lots of empty seats but big plays still got a good roar. So much potential just beyond our current grasp. Given the morning start and lousy play headed in, not bad though. We can bring this back quickly.
8. Band is great.
Bad:
1. Big Red leading the chant pregame. It just wasn't full enough to do it. Too forced. Let it come organically as the team improves. He deserves better.
2. I'm certain several thousand tailgaters never came in, ever. They could have really elevated the atmosphere another level.
3. Need more gear selection. Stands were good but lacked some specific things we wanted heading in, particularly some classic UCONN navy blue, zip front hoodies. Bought a bunch of stuff, but got nothing we had planned on getting. Would have spent way more. Maybe put different stuff at different stands.
4. The band needs to get a little edgier with more pop covers and things that make the crowd move. We need energy coming from wherever we can get it. (Again, band is really good and I am not complaining, just wanted more high energy songs in the mix)
All in all, a great day. My wife and kid agreed it was a good time too. While it isn't what it once was, it won't take much to fix it. Feel pretty good after yesterday.
