Gameday Experience

I worked on the Hawk I Express yesterday. I had one family tell me that their daughter, probably no older than 7, had her tiny(I mean really tiny) Hawkeye Purse searched. Now what the heck can you put in there>

Also Per Mar is supposed to have a person or two at the Finkbine Crossing. Well no one was there on the afternoon trips and that's not good. Plus no snow fence to keep people from walking down the right of way. So the railroad will be bringing it up with Per Mar this week.

Overall, had a great time working the train. Saw my buddy Kevin Angel from the 1985 team, and also had James Vandenbergs aunt and Allen Reisners dad aboard on my car.

GHI
 
I am a season ticket holder. I always buy 4 season tickets and invite 2 other friends, family to come with us each game. This game my nephew and niece were with us, 10 and 16 yrs old. We each had 2 unopened water bottles and after waiting in line for 10 minutes, we were directed to the ONE line that was dedicated to checking purses, etc. Now we wait another 20 minutes in the dreaded table line.

There was a family ahead of us who bought items from Gameday Ron and had the Hawk merchandise in clear plastic bags. (they asked the Gameday checkout person if they were allowed to take merchandise to the game, and Ron replied, "yes you can because of the clear plastic bags." The Per Mar guy had them take out all the items and said put your items back in the clear plastic bags and waved them to the ticket checker.

Then a cop stopped the family and made them take out all the items and throw away the clear plastic bags. He said the only clear plastic bags allowed had to have the Hawk Shop decal on them. The cop was very aggressive and the young family looked stunned.

Then the same cop stopped us because my 10 yr old nephew had a bulge in his cargo type shorts. He put one of his water bottles in his side pocket after they were checked by Per Mar. The cop told my nephew to stop and and empty his pocket. He gave the cop his water bottle and he turned it upside down, and closely looked at the seal to make sure it was not broken. Again, the cop was very aggressive and my nephew was startled by the aggressive attitude.

The experience we had trying to enter Kinnick put a damper on our football family day.
If anyone else had felt the security entering Kinnick was 'over the top' send an email to paula-jantz@uiowa.edu. She is an administrator of gameday operations.
 
If you feel the need to bring in water, or bags, you will need to wait in line to be searched. It happens in every stadium across the country.

I don't want to wait in the search line, so I don't bring those things in. Got to the SE gate 1/2 hour before game time, and got right in the gate, no more than a 10 person deep line.

If you bring items in, it will take 15-30 min. longer....It is your choice....
 
deanvogs said:
If you feel the need to bring in water, or bags, you will need to wait in line to be searched. It happens in every stadium across the country.

I don't want to wait in the search line, so I don't bring those things in. Got to the SE gate 1/2 hour before game time, and got right in the gate, no more than a 10 person deep line.

If you bring items in, it will take 15-30 min. longer....It is your choice....
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This.

I have read so many threads about negative experiences with aggressive, cussing, fighting drunks inside the stadium. Most of us have had to deal with it a time or two and all of us will sooner or later if we go to enough games.

I think they are trying hard to make the experience the best for everyone involved but as with anything there is no way they are going to make everyone happy or do everything perfectly. We need to really consider the feelings of everyone involved and as another poster said pick our battles.

We do not have the right to go through life and never be inconvenienced.

I think the lack of toilets is a fair battle to pick right now, but that's just me.
 
"If you feel the need to bring in water, let alone a small purse?"

I don't know about you but I don't feel like getting price-gouged for drinking water.

I haven't been to Kinnick for more than a few years and shake my head at some of these stories.

I realize ACC football is not like our beloved Big Ten, but my experiences recently at Kenan Statidium and Wallace Wade is fortunately nothing like the inconvenience and nazi-nearing stuff that is going on game day in, and around, Kinnick stadium.
 
Kinda reminds me of that huge concert where everyone was passing out in the heat because they wouldn't let people bring in their own outside water. Instead they had to purchase $6 water inside. I think it may have been the 50th anniversary of Woodstock or something like that.
 
deanvogs said:
If you feel the need to bring in water, or bags, you will need to wait in line to be searched. It happens in every stadium across the country.

I don't want to wait in the search line, so I don't bring those things in. Got to the SE gate 1/2 hour before game time, and got right in the gate, no more than a 10 person deep line.

If you bring items in, it will take 15-30 min. longer....It is your choice....
Click to expand...

You are missing the point. I don't care if it takes 30 minutes longer. Tell me about it before I get to the gates. The search policy is completely different than it has been in years past. My wife has always brought her small Hawkeye purse to games for her necesities and never had issues. If you are going to change the policy I have no problem with that just put the information on the back of the tickets.
Something like this would have been nice...

Attention fans:
New search policies are being enforced to ensure a pleasant game day experience. Please allow for an additional 15-30 minutes. We appreciate your cooperation and have a safe day!
 
Sirhouseman said:
I gotta say that my first trip through the tunnel at Kinnick each year is one of my favorites, and it was an absolutely gorgeous day.

I'd love to hear what other people have to say or add to this, but there was definitely a lot to complain about before the game. First off all, the bathroom situation is a ridiculous nightmare. With the crack down on public urination, the lines for the port o potties were terribly long. And I can't be sure, but it seems like there were a lot less of them. If they're going to crack down, then they need to accommodate for larger number of people.
Secondly, getting into the stadium was a nightmare. We attempted to go inside about 20-25 minutes early, like usual, but we stood in line for at least 10. There were far less ticket scanners at the gates and the bag checks took a very long time. While waiting in line some dude hollered "hurry it up" and two police swooped in on him and gave him the business. It was crazy. I hope they figure it out for next week.
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And the sad thing. This was just for E Illinois!
 
The water thing was absurd, and the previous post was correct. There were no signs and no one knew where to go. We entered on the NE corner, and there were hundreds of unopened water bottles all over the ground. No one knew there was a special entrance for water, and why should there be. It's water people! Do you need an advanced investigative degree to check and make sure it's unopened?
That beeing said, give the cops in line a break. The guy in our line was in his fifties and people were yelling at him like he was a criminal. He was probably just as mad as the rest of you that the university did not put up any signs and he was made to be the enforcer. One guy was almost arrested because he was so out of line and poked the cop, and this guy was like 40!
The university does need to fix this, because it was different, and people were irate.
 
Boy, reading these posts really makes me appreciate my 46" HD LCD in the comfort of my own living room. Yes, being at Kinnick in Iowa City on gameday is a treat, but it sounds like it is really a pain in the azz anymore.
 
If you don't want to be searched, don't bring in a bag. Period. It is only a 3 hour game - even women can do without their "purse" for that long.

Bring in a little cash in your back pocket - buy your water or refreshments at the game.

Get a clue

If you don't have a bag or a purse, you get right in very quickly. Pretty simple solution
 
ChosenChildren said:
If you don't want to be searched, don't bring in a bag. Period. It is only a 3 hour game - even women can do without their "purse" for that long.

Bring in a little cash in your back pocket - buy your water or refreshments at the game.

Get a clue

If you don't have a bag or a purse, you get right in very quickly. Pretty simple solution
Click to expand...
So where do you put your wallet, feminine products, etc. if you are a woman?
 
ChosenChildren said:
If you don't want to be searched, don't bring in a bag. Period. It is only a 3 hour game - even women can do without their "purse" for that long.

Bring in a little cash in your back pocket - buy your water or refreshments at the game.

Get a clue

If you don't have a bag or a purse, you get right in very quickly. Pretty simple solution
Click to expand...

And how much does water cost inside the stadium? Not everyone is willing to pay the crazy amounts they expect for refreshments.
 
Interesting news about the "water and purse" lines....I entered in the south side, by the Kinnick statue and there were people with water who walked through, and purses. No separate line for them at all.
 
CAARHawk said:
Budget cuts people. These people are paid by the university. The university has had to reduce faculty and staff due to budget cuts. Other people have had to go on furlow. The university has had massive cuts in state funding. Makes sense this would hit the stadium staff too.

Remember, this is a COLLEGE football game, not a PROFESSIONAL football game. Even though the fans pay enough money to warrant a good stadium experience, it is understandable that things at the stadium would echo what are happening across the university.

That being said, an organized campaign to address these issues to the athletic department and president's office should ease things some. Also, when I last lived there, we couldn't bring any bags or backpacks into the stadium. Might be best for people to go back to that kind of thinking.

If it was me, I would pick my fight and it would center on the portables.
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Budget cuts? WTF are you talking about!? They hired 80 more, yes that's right 80 new cops to patrol the horrible drinking. That they can't even stop...
It's not a budget issue, it's having the wrong mindset, and trying to cut off the hand that feeds you.

That being said, you have a good idea in organizing a campaign. How about A Campaign for Common Sense? It' appears that the administration doesn't have any.
 
Drank a good amount of beer and spirits, walked to the game, got through the line in 5 minutes, watched a great game, drank a bit more and hung out with friends for 30 more minutes after the game.

Not once did it feel any different then last year. Just my 2 cents.
 
I have one main issue with the check-in process that happened.

This is done with many stadiums across the nation. Fine.
They want to crack down on security and check everything. Fine.

Give us a heads up!

We've had season tickets the last 7 years and have never had a problem taking an unopened bottle of water or seat cushions through a line. At least give us the common courtesy of letting us know that you would have to go through a special (longer) line this year. If I would have known that this was the new "rule" then I would have left the items in my vehicle. Its not like I parked right next to Kinnick or could just throw away seat cushions.

Not only that, but they only had 1 line for people who needed items checked. Really? Did they not think there was going to be more people (especially females) who needed items checked?

These people checking the items did not have a PHD either. I mean, they shook a stick at my seat cushion and let me threw. What?!?! Really? You made me stand in line for 40 min to have some kid half-*** look at something and just let me in. I would rather you took apart each compartment in my seat cushion and opened my bottle of water and took a swig to make sure it was ok. At least then I would have felt like this extra "security" was worth something.
 
CAARHawk said:
Budget cuts people. These people are paid by the university. The university has had to reduce faculty and staff due to budget cuts. Other people have had to go on furlow. The university has had massive cuts in state funding. Makes sense this would hit the stadium staff too.

Remember, this is a COLLEGE football game, not a PROFESSIONAL football game. Even though the fans pay enough money to warrant a good stadium experience, it is understandable that things at the stadium would echo what are happening across the university.

That being said, an organized campaign to address these issues to the athletic department and president's office should ease things some. Also, when I last lived there, we couldn't bring any bags or backpacks into the stadium. Might be best for people to go back to that kind of thinking.

If it was me, I would pick my fight and it would center on the portables.
Click to expand...

Wrong answer. The University & Athletic Programs budgets are mutally exclusive and have been for about 3 years.
 
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