My Rose Bowl Experience Part 3: Everything prior to the game

[Undefeated]

Our waiter for breakfast in Burbank was from Pasadena. He recommended getting over there very early because of the conflict with the parade. After fumbling around Pasadena we parked the rental next to a park about 1 mile from the Rose Bowl and made the easy walk over. Hawk fans were getting jacked for the game, and we both were excited the day had finally arrived.

As we walked down Seco avenue we gladly took some jello shots from some fellow Hawk fans en route to the stadium.

I have to say I thought arriving at the Rose Bowl would be more triumphant, you just round this corner on Seco Ave. and bam there it is, the most hallowed ground in college football just sort of sitting there; but then it hits you. You are now at the ROSE BOWL and you see nothing but black and gold. I put my arm around the old man and said "we did it, we are here!"

As Miller said, Iowa fans are the best and this picture of Kinnick West cemented the last 2 days at the huddle and battleship. Iowa plates from every county in Iowa were everywhere. If you are reading this and you were there, you know what I am talking about. If you didn't walk around the backside of the stadium to the Stanford alumni tailgate you would have thought you were at Kinnick. I thought there would be 70,000 Iowa fans in the stadium based off the 100:1 ratio of Iowa fans to Stanford fans outside.

We talked to some guys who saw KF get off the bus and wipe tears from his eyes because of the overwhelming support the Hawkeye faithful were showing to the team, I don't doubt it.

At this point you start to think "We have this, how could we not?" You just didn't think that this amount of support was going to be overcome by anyone, we were too much. It seemed half the state of Iowa was there. Again when we thought we couldn't be more blown away, we were.


We made our way to gate "E" to get in drain the lizard two more times and get seated. Support for the Hawkeyes was now in the form of a tidal wave. The men's head was electric, we wouldn't be stopped. The Rose Bowl curse was coming to an end today.

We took our seats and because I didn't want to miss any of the game I went down with about 20 minutes before kickoff to try to pee one more time. I was going against the flow in tunnel 16 and out of nowhere I gave it the loudest "Go Hawks" I have ever yelled. The tunnel went insane and everyone started yelling "Go Hawks" I must have slapped about 50 high fives on the way out. I.O.W.A. started up, IT WAS ELECTRIC! The hair stood up on the back of my neck.

I got seated again and waited for the team to run out of the tunnel. We were on the opposite side of the tunnels. The team ran out, the crowd went bezerk, it was euphoria.

The Iowa band played the National Anthem and the B2 flewover

'Murica!

It was time for kick off.

Within 5-10 minutes, the oxygen was sucked out of the room; in 15-20 minutes it was as though 60,000 Iowa fans just watched a litter of puppies get thrown through a wood chipper.

The last 2 and half days of excitement and ability to conquer all had receded like the waters of a tidal wave.

 

[83Hawk]

I have to disagree about the stadium. I was actually disappointed. It was smaller than expected. It is showing its age and the outside is a bit dingy. It looks much better on TV than in person. There really wasn't anything special about it.

 

[deanvogs]

I have to disagree about the stadium. I was actually disappointed. It was smaller than expected. It is showing its age and the outside is a bit dingy. It looks much better on TV than in person. There really wasn't anything special about it.

That's like saying a '63 Corvette is disappointing because it doesn't have electric windows and XM radio.

 

[83Hawk]

That's like saying a '63 Corvette is disappointing because it doesn't have electric windows and XM radio.

No, it isn't.

There is nobody who appreciates history and tradition more than I do. But the Rose Bowl stadium was a letdown. I didn't say it was a bad stadium...it just didn't live up to the hype.

 

[Tigerhawk222]

"It was as though 60,000 Iowa fans just watched a litter of puppies get thrown through a wood chipper."

Best description of the day. Maybe the week!

 

[judzeehawk]

Nice job Undefeated! Very proud of the way Iowa represented. I still don't know or can't figure out what the heck happened with the Hawks. Just really really puzzling to me and always will be. Still wish I could of been there.

 

[GrandpaHawk]

It would be nice if they could update football screens to this century.

 

[NeilDiamond]

"It was as though 60,000 Iowa fans just watched a litter of puppies get thrown through a wood chipper."Best description of the day. Maybe the week!

Ha, that is hilarious and spot on. What really blows is I'd love to celebrate the RB, but I'm not about to put up a print or buy a shirt that is just a reminder of that debacle. Iowa fans didn't even get a quarter to think about winning. Amazing how quick the decimation occurred. As Pat Fitzgerald had said, "You have to embrace the suck."

 

[TychoBrahe]

No, it isn't.

There is nobody who appreciates history and tradition more than I do. But the Rose Bowl stadium was a letdown. I didn't say it was a bad stadium...it just didn't live up to the hype.

I also had the same let-down feeling about the Rose Bowl venue. Part of it is the outside areas which were really unattractive, that big concrete spillway thing, all those makeshift tents, and so on. That didn't exactly raise my expectations.

The stadium itself is horribly outdated, which was also a surprise to me. Terrible, and few, restrooms. Bleachers that were treacherous to negotiate going to and from your seat. Very little bunting or banners inside which would help set the scene and class the place up. Couldn't they have some floral displays here and there or something?

They only had a single video screen, which hardly showed any replays (usually with a significant delay), and the sound system was tinny. The only highlight was Tom Arnold's pep-talk, which was pretty funny even though his voice was GONE. Another downside was some Rose Bowl dude named Muldoon who made an unfortunate comment (in the 3rd quarter) in an interview that it was "too bad it wasn't a better game", which understandably drew boos. I kind of felt sorry for him.

But yes, I thought I would feel more walking up to that storied venue, but I didn't. I read one prescient comment on a board: if/when LA builds an NFL stadium, the days of the Rose Bowl being a playoff-type bowl are numbered. I do see it, barring dramatic renovations, fading eventually into a second-tier bowl.

 

[eveningnewsteam]

If LA builds a new stadium, I could see "The Rose Bowl Game" moving to that venue unless major updates are made to that stadium. Similar as the Cotton Bowl now being played at Jerry's World.

 

[SonofaSailor]

Getting into the stadium was a nightmare...worst game day operations of any stadium I've ever been to.

 

[TychoBrahe]

If LA builds a new stadium, I could see "The Rose Bowl Game" moving to that venue unless major updates are made to that stadium. Similar as the Cotton Bowl now being played at Jerry's World.

Absolutely! At one time the Cotton Bowl, Sugar Bowl, and Rose Bowl stadiums were almost equal in prestige. First went the Sugar Bowl, then the Cotton Bowl (now used mainly for the Red River shoot-out, I think), and I don't see the Rose Bowl being too far behind, when it comes to hosting major games like the playoff. It's not what it used to be, I fear, not even close.

 

[Seth53]

If LA builds a new stadium, I could see "The Rose Bowl Game" moving to that venue unless major updates are made to that stadium. Similar as the Cotton Bowl now being played at Jerry's World.

Agreed.

Why put money into a pit (lipstick on a pig) when it's going to become irrelevant in the next few years anyway?

 

[Undefeated]

You guys are crazy. You could replace the Eiffel Tower too, but you shouldn't. It took us about 10 minutes to get in the place. If you didn't have a purse or bag it was pretty fast given our current state of affairs with our president and "workplace" violence like we had at Ft. Hood and recently at San Bernadino.

 

[KBStoKinnick]

You guys are crazy. You could replace the Eiffel Tower too, but you shouldn't. It took us about 10 minutes to get in the place. If you didn't have a purse or bag it was pretty fast given our current state of affairs with our president and "workplace" violence like we had at Ft. Hood and recently at San Bernadino.

Took me an hour and 15 minutes before security said screw it and let people through just by putting their arms up. It was pretty embarrassing that they had 4 (4!) metal detectors for ~13,000 fans at one entrance.

 

[PCHawk]

Our waiter for breakfast in Burbank was from Pasadena. He recommended getting over there very early because of the conflict with the parade. After fumbling around Pasadena we parked the rental next to a park about 1 mile from the Rose Bowl and made the easy walk over. Hawk fans were getting jacked for the game, and we both were excited the day had finally arrived.

As we walked down Seco avenue we gladly took some jello shots from some fellow Hawk fans en route to the stadium.

I have to say I thought arriving at the Rose Bowl would be more triumphant, you just round this corner on Seco Ave. and bam there it is, the most hallowed ground in college football just sort of sitting there; but then it hits you. You are now at the ROSE BOWL and you see nothing but black and gold. I put my arm around the old man and said "we did it, we are here!"

As Miller said, Iowa fans are the best and this picture of Kinnick West cemented the last 2 days at the huddle and battleship. Iowa plates from every county in Iowa were everywhere. If you are reading this and you were there, you know what I am talking about. If you didn't walk around the backside of the stadium to the Stanford alumni tailgate you would have thought you were at Kinnick. I thought there would be 70,000 Iowa fans in the stadium based off the 100:1 ratio of Iowa fans to Stanford fans outside.

We talked to some guys who saw KF get off the bus and wipe tears from his eyes because of the overwhelming support the Hawkeye faithful were showing to the team, I don't doubt it.

At this point you start to think "We have this, how could we not?" You just didn't think that this amount of support was going to be overcome by anyone, we were too much. It seemed half the state of Iowa was there. Again when we thought we couldn't be more blown away, we were.


We made our way to gate "E" to get in drain the lizard two more times and get seated. Support for the Hawkeyes was now in the form of a tidal wave. The men's head was electric, we wouldn't be stopped. The Rose Bowl curse was coming to an end today.

We took our seats and because I didn't want to miss any of the game I went down with about 20 minutes before kickoff to try to pee one more time. I was going against the flow in tunnel 16 and out of nowhere I gave it the loudest "Go Hawks" I have ever yelled. The tunnel went insane and everyone started yelling "Go Hawks" I must have slapped about 50 high fives on the way out. I.O.W.A. started up, IT WAS ELECTRIC! The hair stood up on the back of my neck.

I got seated again and waited for the team to run out of the tunnel. We were on the opposite side of the tunnels. The team ran out, the crowd went bezerk, it was euphoria.

The Iowa band played the National Anthem and the B2 flewover

'Murica!

It was time for kick off.

Within 5-10 minutes, the oxygen was sucked out of the room; in 15-20 minutes it was as though 60,000 Iowa fans just watched a litter of puppies get thrown through a wood chipper.

The last 2 and half days of excitement and ability to conquer all had receded like the waters of a tidal wave.

I passed the yellow semi twice on the south route on the way home.

 

[pootspot]

Getting in was a **** shyte Storm going through gate C to D I agree. I loved the setting. Stadium is old but the mountains surrounding were beautiful and perfect background. Not 1 bad seat in the place(maybe first few rows idk but anything to all the way up was perfection) the weather, the abundance of gorgeous woman on both sides and people just getting shytey. I loved everything except the game itself and I'm glad I went. It's the grand daddy of them all for a reason and I'm glad I got to experience that. I hit the port o party's before I got in figuring it was a straight bath tub community pisser like Sun Devil Stadium(when it's hot out its a sauna and people per in the sinks lol) so I couldn't say how RB was but I for one loved it and would recommend to anyone who hasn't been.

 

[westender]

Nice job Undefeated! Very proud of the way Iowa represented. I still don't know or can't figure out what the heck happened with the Hawks. Just really really puzzling to me and always will be. Still wish I could of been there.

SPEED KILLS! and their O Line was obviously better than our D Line. And that play we must have in our playbook called "Rudock pick 6" that thing got called. Stanford in my opinion belonged in the playoff as it was now (not referring to earlier in the season). I think Stanford would have given Alabama a game.