Some observations from the game tonight.
Yes, the outcome sucked and I am feeling down right now, but I thought I'd share some non-game stuff.
1. At first, I thought attendance was going to be pretty good because it was pretty full at kickoff, and Stanford fans can be pretty slow getting into the seats, but the kickoff attendance was about all that was coming. It was eerily empty when pulling in, but the stadium still felt close to 2/3 full, so my guess is that people arrived early. The corners and top of the top bowl were very empty, but the lower bowl felt full. Perhaps people are filling the empty seats in the lower bowl more.
2. It seems like the team was really looking forward to getting back home and getting the student section support, but the Red Zone didn't seem as full or as loud as I'd expect. I wonder if it's the weirdly late kickoff time. It's what, like the 2nd or 3rd weekend of school so I could see it being a big weekend for parties.
3. One thing I did like is that the final core of devoted fans at the end was bigger than I expected, and better than I'd seen in the past. Maybe the epic comeback at Autzen makes people hold out hope. Yes, a lot of fans emptied out late, but I felt there was a decent number down to the very end.
4. The stadium was beautiful and the weather was as good as one could hope for. This is such a beautiful place to live and the night felt like something out of a painting.
5. My wife said at her workplace some Stanford fans seemed particularly down after last weekend's game, and I thought maybe the players were deflated also, because they just seemed to open flat. The team got fired up and made a game of it for about a third of the game, and you could just see their fire and their pride finally get awakened -- they were fired up on the sidelines, talking and pumping each other up -- but it was too little, too late.
6. Oh, and a note about the Utah fans. You know, and I totally didn't expect this, and was a little surprised when it happened, but those Utah fans I thought were kind of shitty in the end. They were loud and had a lot of synchronized cheers, which I've seen by many teams, and which I usually respect. But at the very end of the game, when the outcome was pretty much settled, they started taunting Stanford supporters with the synchronized jeer "We can't hear you." In between each line, the Utah band would play, so it seems like taunting the home team "We can't hear you" when they win an away game is like one of their things, and that the band is a part of it (which is what makes it different. It's one thing if the fans spontaneously did this -- it's still shitty, but it's just the fans. But because the band is part of the school, technically, part of the school under the control of the AD is taunting the home fans. But only, like true cowards, when they feel they are safely ahead). Then, a few minutes later, in a scene out of high school, they start with the "Na Na Hey Hey Goodbye".
It just struck me as pretty bad behavior. Stanford wins a lot. I actually felt bad for Iowa at the Rose Bowl and felt Stanford football has been so good in recent years, I felt the band should try to be more sensitive.
So the Utah fans' taunting and jeers struck me as classless behavior. I previously had viewed USC as having the most boorish -- and certainly the drunkest -- fans, but now I find Utah to be the lowest in character, despite the fact that they seemed completely dry. It's a bad sign when a drunk USC fan behaves better and has more class than a completely sober you.
7. Ending on a happy note: the band!
I don't mean to overlook the major downer on the field, but for those who are interested in the Band, I thought it was one of the funniest halftime shows in a while.
The show opened with a back and forth between two animated heads on the jumobtrons, with robotic voices making awkward and slightly inaccurate references as "Stanford fans." Something constantly felt amiss -- they kept getting details wrong -- so you get the sense they were mocking all the fake social media accounts (and websites) out there that are generated by computers. The animated heads conclude, good thing they absolutely were real, actual people."
The band than moved into formation, spelling out "NOT"
Then, after a few seconds, shimmered into the word "BOT" Kind of confirming what the show was about.
There were some other bits, and then the band stretched into a long line that I think CompSci87 and some other Cardboarders, who, if they were in the stands, might have appreciated. The band then spelled out the seemingly-nonsense line:
"1000101"
Which, if you decode the binary, spells, "69"
Yes, I know, totally juvenile, but with the reference to current events like bots, the show got a big LOL from me.
My 10-year-old son kept asking me, what was the joke? What is 69?
Truly incomparable, or, as the Bots said (paraphrased), the singular, truly non-comparable band.
Yes, the outcome sucked and I am feeling down right now, but I thought I'd share some non-game stuff.
1. At first, I thought attendance was going to be pretty good because it was pretty full at kickoff, and Stanford fans can be pretty slow getting into the seats, but the kickoff attendance was about all that was coming. It was eerily empty when pulling in, but the stadium still felt close to 2/3 full, so my guess is that people arrived early. The corners and top of the top bowl were very empty, but the lower bowl felt full. Perhaps people are filling the empty seats in the lower bowl more.
2. It seems like the team was really looking forward to getting back home and getting the student section support, but the Red Zone didn't seem as full or as loud as I'd expect. I wonder if it's the weirdly late kickoff time. It's what, like the 2nd or 3rd weekend of school so I could see it being a big weekend for parties.
3. One thing I did like is that the final core of devoted fans at the end was bigger than I expected, and better than I'd seen in the past. Maybe the epic comeback at Autzen makes people hold out hope. Yes, a lot of fans emptied out late, but I felt there was a decent number down to the very end.
4. The stadium was beautiful and the weather was as good as one could hope for. This is such a beautiful place to live and the night felt like something out of a painting.
5. My wife said at her workplace some Stanford fans seemed particularly down after last weekend's game, and I thought maybe the players were deflated also, because they just seemed to open flat. The team got fired up and made a game of it for about a third of the game, and you could just see their fire and their pride finally get awakened -- they were fired up on the sidelines, talking and pumping each other up -- but it was too little, too late.
6. Oh, and a note about the Utah fans. You know, and I totally didn't expect this, and was a little surprised when it happened, but those Utah fans I thought were kind of shitty in the end. They were loud and had a lot of synchronized cheers, which I've seen by many teams, and which I usually respect. But at the very end of the game, when the outcome was pretty much settled, they started taunting Stanford supporters with the synchronized jeer "We can't hear you." In between each line, the Utah band would play, so it seems like taunting the home team "We can't hear you" when they win an away game is like one of their things, and that the band is a part of it (which is what makes it different. It's one thing if the fans spontaneously did this -- it's still shitty, but it's just the fans. But because the band is part of the school, technically, part of the school under the control of the AD is taunting the home fans. But only, like true cowards, when they feel they are safely ahead). Then, a few minutes later, in a scene out of high school, they start with the "Na Na Hey Hey Goodbye".
It just struck me as pretty bad behavior. Stanford wins a lot. I actually felt bad for Iowa at the Rose Bowl and felt Stanford football has been so good in recent years, I felt the band should try to be more sensitive.
So the Utah fans' taunting and jeers struck me as classless behavior. I previously had viewed USC as having the most boorish -- and certainly the drunkest -- fans, but now I find Utah to be the lowest in character, despite the fact that they seemed completely dry. It's a bad sign when a drunk USC fan behaves better and has more class than a completely sober you.
7. Ending on a happy note: the band!
I don't mean to overlook the major downer on the field, but for those who are interested in the Band, I thought it was one of the funniest halftime shows in a while.
The show opened with a back and forth between two animated heads on the jumobtrons, with robotic voices making awkward and slightly inaccurate references as "Stanford fans." Something constantly felt amiss -- they kept getting details wrong -- so you get the sense they were mocking all the fake social media accounts (and websites) out there that are generated by computers. The animated heads conclude, good thing they absolutely were real, actual people."
The band than moved into formation, spelling out "NOT"
Then, after a few seconds, shimmered into the word "BOT" Kind of confirming what the show was about.
There were some other bits, and then the band stretched into a long line that I think CompSci87 and some other Cardboarders, who, if they were in the stands, might have appreciated. The band then spelled out the seemingly-nonsense line:
"1000101"
Which, if you decode the binary, spells, "69"
Yes, I know, totally juvenile, but with the reference to current events like bots, the show got a big LOL from me.
My 10-year-old son kept asking me, what was the joke? What is 69?
Truly incomparable, or, as the Bots said (paraphrased), the singular, truly non-comparable band.
