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Help for a future visiting fan? - dfbf - 05-24-2012

I plan to come to the Duke game this fall.  I was wondering if I could get help planning this part of my trip. 

1. When will the game time be announced?
2. How long would it take to get from the stadium through security at San Francisco Airport?  Looking at 11:30 p.m.-12:30 a.m. Sat. night departures because of work.
3. How long would it take to see the campus before or after the game?  Thx.

Re: Help for a future visiting fan? - Farm93 - 05-24-2012

1) Game Time
The Pac-12 has a new conference network, and a commitment to put all of the football games played in Pac-12 venues on live TV.  The TV selection process will be complicated.  The big networks will get to pick two or three choice games, one, two or more of the games will get MOVED to a different day, and the rest will air on the Pac-12 network on Saturday.
Duke v. Stanford is unlikely to appear in the major network slots.  So the bad news is that the game time probably will not be known until days before the game.  Maybe earlier, maybe later.  The Pac-12 may need the conference to announce a schedule to get on DirecTV and/or DishNet.
However, it is not out of the question at all that this game gets a 9PM type Saturday slot on the Pac-12 network.  Or, it could get an 11AM time slot.  Really, the whole conference is in unchartered waters this year.

Those that claim they know either work for the Pac-12 Network and should not comment.  Or they are referencing the older Pac-10 scheduling rules which will no longer apply.

2)  Travel to Airport.  I will assume you have a rental car.
Your big challenge will be parking in a location that will enable you to escape the parking lot area post game.  A good spot for you is probably going to be a little walk from the stadium.  The walk would enable you to get out of the areas near the stadium with the worst post-game logistics.

10 minutes to walk to your car.  15 minutes to get to 101 or 280.  30 minutes to the airport.  20 minutes to get from the rental car area to security.  15-45 minutes to push through security.  If the game starts before 6PM, your redeye idea should be OK.  It depends on your travel skill and risk tolerance.  SFO has several frequent flyer lines, so if you travel a lot you will get through faster.

That floating kickoff time thing is going to be your big challenge though.  FWIW - It is not impossible that the conference even moves the DATE of the game.  Every Pac-12 team must be willing to accept a move away from Saturday for at least some of their home games.  Not sure how teams will protect key dates, or how often they can demand no move Saturdays, but Duke v. Stanford might not be protected.  Stanford students are not on campus that week and the game is not a tradition filled game.  So if the Pac-12 network decides to demand at least one move from Stanford, this game could be the one the school decides to not protect.  Duke might beg for mercy given the travel costs.  My guess is that Stanford v. San Jose State might be sacrificed if Stanford must move a game for the greater good of the conference because San Jose State fans would not need to travel and routinely plays on Fridays in their conference.

FWIW - The Pac-12 wants teams to entertain hosting games on Friday and Sunday in the early non-conference schedule.  At the moment no teams have Sunday games, so somebody is moving a game or two that will flat out stun their fans.

3)  Stanford Sightseeing -
Stanford's campus is rather large.  And yet, if you wanted to walk around without too much concern about missing a venue or two I would imagine you could cover the big highlight areas in two hours.

My guess is you will discover that you will have a ton of time to explore while waiting for your TV kickoff slot and/or waiting post game for your redeye flight.

SFO car rental. Been there, done that - Redrum - 05-26-2012

Allow 30 minutes to get to/from terminal to rental satellite location and in the car.  More if it's an off-airport location (like Advantage or other second-tier companies).  If everything is functioning right, it will be less.  Things were not functioning correctly or on time when we made our arrival/departure.

The "seeing the campus" part--- on a timetable suited for an Israeli commando raid-- seems like it might make you more miserable than enlightened.  If it's an early P.M game you might not see the game but there would be some late afternoon twilight.  If it's later,  you might see the game but it will probably be dark by the time you try to see some of the campus. 
The good news is the main part of the Quad, the original university, is accessible for a close drive-by viewing not far from the stadium and it would give you a taste of the original spanish-style architecture.  Look on a map for Palm Drive and the oval that terminates at the Quad.  Quick way to get a snapshot kind of impression of an otherwise very spread out campus.

But, I absolutely SALUTE your dedication that would have you fly across country just to see your team play. 

Re: Help for a future visiting fan? - dfbf - 05-26-2012

Thanks to all of you.  A mimosa tailgate for the 9 a.m. PT start sounds like fun.  ;D

Re: Help for a future visiting fan? - BigEasyCard - 05-27-2012

A few thoughts to supplement prior contributions:

Consider parking on the west side of campus, say near Tresdidder.  You will have a great walk (20 minutes?) through the heart of the campus to reach the stadium.  Also, after the game, you can leave the back of the campus and head up 280 to the airport -- more miles but probably less time, given post-game traffic along EL Camino and downtown Palo Alto on way to 101.

Another option would be to skip the rental car and take the train.  Caltrain station is less than 10 minute walk from stadium and the train is 40 minutes to Millbrae station near the airport.  Not sure about transfer time from Millbrae station to the airport.

You can also consider flights through San Jose Airport which, like San Francisco Airport, is less than 25 miles from campus.

I hope that you will find our fans as hospitable as the Blue Devil fans I met last year when Stanford football played at Duke.



Re: Help for a future visiting fan? - Farm93 - 05-28-2012

Oh the fun of travel.  SJC is a troubling option.  Why?  Very few redeyes thanks to the curfew.  One flight to NYC at 10:30, one flight to ATL at 10:45.  But the good news is that it would be easy to whip into SJC if you can make the flight.

SFO, has a few later flights, though I suspect that ATL and Charlotte are the target airports, so the choices are not that great.  SFO via CalTrain is viable only if Stanford is the one and only purpose for the trip.  However, the train option is not exactly quick.  I know some complained about the rental car return, but I would bet many thousands of dollars on that race.  Get me a car on Saturday night and I promise I will be at SFO before the train.  The train has...walk to the train, wait at train station for the train, train up the peninsula AT EVERY STOP, transfer wait for BART, BART to SFO.

Sadly, I still maintain the big problem is the TV schedule.  It now requires fans to be able to attend a game with a kickoff as early as 11AM or Noon, but have the flexibility to be able to get to the airport as late as 10:30PM, perhaps even later.

This particular travel challenge created by the Pac-12 Network will be a real issue, even for some Stanford fans.  This year I will be driving up from SoCal every game.  I would love to fly, but I had come to realize the TV schedule uncertainties makes 12 hours of driving more practical than domestic air travel.  Anything for TV progress, of course.

Re: Help for a future visiting fan? - GaryT - 06-14-2012

Kick-off will be 7:30 PM PDT.  If you stay 'til the end of the game (which you should always do; you never what might happen), You probably won't be leaving campus until 11 PM. 
Hope to see you on the Farm in September.

Re: Help for a future visiting fan? - yvonne - 06-14-2012

(06-14-2012, 01:51 PM)GaryT link Wrote:If you stay 'til the end of the game (which you should always do; you never what might happen),

Are you going to milk that for the rest of your life? Some of us would like to forget.  ;)

Re: Help for a future visiting fan? - GaryT - 06-14-2012

#LeaveYourLegacy

Re: Help for a future visiting fan? - Farm93 - 06-14-2012

The game loaded with Pac-12 promotions seems destined to end late, late, late.  Getting onto the road by 11PM would be close to a best case. Well from a Stanford point of view.  The game will be quick if Stanford is able to run power and grind down the clock.  If it is close then the game could end at 11:00 or even 11:30.  I would not plan on getting to a gate at SFO before 12:30 AM, and all of the redeye flights to the South are gone by then.  SJC is obviously out because the curfew will kick in well before one could get to the airport.

Time for hotels and Sunday AM flights, IMO.

At least the Dukies know now, so that should help the travel and lodging logistics.Â