Observations from Temple

vapspwi

vapspwi

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Here's some stuff I thought about that was unrelated to the Xs and Os on the field or the sidelines as I sat in the stadium Saturday.
  • Getting to the stadium, which is kind of in the middle of industrial nowhere, was pretty easy. Plenty of parking that wasn't too far away from the stadium (although the walk was complicated by some construction detours in the area). Clearer signs directing you to the day-of-game cash parking would have been helpful.
  • Pretty good amount of tailgating going on, albeit NFL style (in a big parking lot). First time I ever saw a tailgate with like a camping shower tent with a poop bucket (literally a 5-gallon bucket) in it, though. Clever yet disgusting.
  • Tech seemed to have a pretty good turnout, a pretty solid section full. Surprisingly subdued (not loud) early, when the game was still in doubt. We have old fans. Lots of Tech folks out around town Saturday morning, too.
  • The band didn't play Budweiser, and I didn't get to sing the Wreck at all. Been a while since that happened.
  • I missed the safety coming out of a time out or whatever, because it was at the far end of the stadium and I was reading Stingtalk on my phone. Thanks a lot.
  • The parts of the stadium that were open for this game (not the upper decks) were maybe half- to two-thirds full. Not a great crowd, never really loud or disruptive. It was silent in there by the end of the game.
  • Temple has the longest, slowest alma mater I've ever heard. I can't decide if their fight song is "Battle Hymn" or "I've Been Working On The Railroad" or something else.
  • Their PA announcer is moderately annoying. He mispronounced "Cottrell" all day and by the time he finished saying "ITTTTTTTTTTTTTT'S THIRRRRRRRRRRRRRRD ANNNNNNNND TEEEEEEEEEEEEEEENNNNNNN!" the play was over.
  • During warmups, we roll out some giant foam donuts for our players to tackle. Never seen that before. Kinda weird.
  • The "Juice Crew" had pool noodles out toward the end of the game screwing around on the sideline. I dunno, that stuff's amusing when you're winning, but when you're at the point where you know you aren't going to score more than 2, just knock it off.
  • Temple fans were fine. Nobody talked smack before or after, or really said anything to me.
  • Guy manning the desk at Christ Church (historic church) spoke favorably of Atlanta - he has a son at Emory Medical School. Apparently Richard Peters (grandfather of the Atlanta Peters of Peters Park(ing deck) fame) is buried in the center aisle of Christ Church. He said that he was surprised that a team with Georgia Tech's stature (and this was after the game!) came to play AT Temple.
  • Had a guy ask me if I was wearing a Saints jersey. Most of the football conversations I had ended up being NFL. College football just isn't much of a thing up there, I guess.
  • On Sunday, I went into a 7-Eleven and there was a homeless guy with one pant leg panhandling with a frisbee while he held the door open for customers. He said "Sorry about that Temple game."
JRjr
 
vapspwi said:
Here's some stuff I thought about that was unrelated to the Xs and Os on the field or the sidelines as I sat in the stadium Saturday.
  • Getting to the stadium, which is kind of in the middle of industrial nowhere, was pretty easy. Plenty of parking that wasn't too far away from the stadium (although the walk was complicated by some construction detours in the area). Clearer signs directing you to the day-of-game cash parking would have been helpful.
  • Pretty good amount of tailgating going on, albeit NFL style (in a big parking lot). First time I ever saw a tailgate with like a camping shower tent with a poop bucket (literally a 5-gallon bucket) in it, though. Clever yet disgusting.
  • Tech seemed to have a pretty good turnout, a pretty solid section full. Surprisingly subdued (not loud) early, when the game was still in doubt. We have old fans. Lots of Tech folks out around town Saturday morning, too.
  • The band didn't play Budweiser, and I didn't get to sing the Wreck at all. Been a while since that happened.
  • I missed the safety coming out of a time out or whatever, because it was at the far end of the stadium and I was reading Stingtalk on my phone. Thanks a lot.
  • The parts of the stadium that were open for this game (not the upper decks) were maybe half- to two-thirds full. Not a great crowd, never really loud or disruptive. It was silent in there by the end of the game.
  • Temple has the longest, slowest alma mater I've ever heard. I can't decide if their fight song is "Battle Hymn" or "I've Been Working On The Railroad" or something else.
  • Their PA announcer is moderately annoying. He mispronounced "Cottrell" all day and by the time he finished saying "ITTTTTTTTTTTTTT'S THIRRRRRRRRRRRRRRD ANNNNNNNND TEEEEEEEEEEEEEEENNNNNNN!" the play was over.
  • During warmups, we roll out some giant foam donuts for our players to tackle. Never seen that before. Kinda weird.
  • The "Juice Crew" had pool noodles out toward the end of the game screwing around on the sideline. I dunno, that stuff's amusing when you're winning, but when you're at the point where you know you aren't going to score more than 2, just knock it off.
  • Temple fans were fine. Nobody talked smack before or after, or really said anything to me.
  • Guy manning the desk at Christ Church (historic church) spoke favorably of Atlanta - he has a son at Emory Medical School. Apparently Richard Peters (grandfather of the Atlanta Peters of Peters Park(ing deck) fame) is buried in the center aisle of Christ Church. He said that he was surprised that a team with Georgia Tech's stature (and this was after the game!) came to play AT Temple.
  • Had a guy ask me if I was wearing a Saints jersey. Most of the football conversations I had ended up being NFL. College football just isn't much of a thing up there, I guess.
  • On Sunday, I went into a 7-Eleven and there was a homeless guy with one pant leg panhandling with a frisbee while he held the door open for customers. He said "Sorry about that Temple game."
JRjr
Click to expand...

Thank you for your sacrifice.
 
vapspwi said:
  • Had a guy ask me if I was wearing a Saints jersey. Most of the football conversations I had ended up being NFL. College football just isn't much of a thing up there, I guess
Click to expand...
Can confirm.

Glad you made it out of Philly alive. You get a steak anywhere?
 
Not surprising there wasn’t a lot of trash talk.

Collins is very well liked and very well respected—with the exception of some GT fans that give new meaning to the word “inpatient”.
 
Allen Koholic said:
Glad you made it out of Philly alive. You get a steak anywhere?
Click to expand...

Everybody I talked to was way nicer than I expected. City was pretty decent, and easy to get around in (I was driving).

My Philly friend directed me to Pat’s in the “Geno’s vs Pat’s” contest (“whiz wit”). Then I also tried his face, Tony Luke’s, after the game.

Both were fine, neither was the best cheesesteak I’ve ever had.

JRjr
 
Tampa Jacket said:
Collins is very well liked and very well respected—with the exception of some GT fans that give new meaning to the word “inpatient”.
Click to expand...
Did you mean 'impatient' because we want results now, or did you mean our fans belong in the mental ward?
 
I've been to Philly a couple of teams. Not a bad town, though there are bad sections.
Even went to the corner of Swanson and Ritenour to see the original ECW arena. ... ... ... ... (wiping a tear from my eye) ... ... ... ...

anyhoo.... Reading Market was fun.
Last time I went to Philly (97) we flew in over the Navy Yard. That was a cool scene.

yeah, once you get starting toward DC and points north, pro football dominates the coverage. Philly is definitely a pro sports town.
 
Tampa Jacket said:
Not surprising there wasn’t a lot of trash talk.

Collins is very well liked and very well respected—with the exception of some GT fans that give new meaning to the word “inpatient”.
Click to expand...

354A79E4-4940-49E4-BA8A-889C11966A75.gif
 
Just out of curiosity, did Collins get any kind of reception/reaction from the home crowd?
 
Deke said:
Just out of curiosity, did Collins get any kind of reception/reaction from the home crowd?
Click to expand...

There wasn’t enough of a crowd there to really detect any reaction when we came on the field. I didn’t notice anything out of the usual.

I did see one sign in the crowd on the Jumbotron that had some kind of punny insult aimed at him.

JRjr
 
I too, missed the safety. Some Temple band members came over to visit our band and were obstructing my view.
As for the city, arrived Thursday and came home yesterday. Found the city really dirty. One in our party had to see and run the “Rocky steps” (never seen the movie) and that area is a great layout, park, museum and all but trashed by empty water bottles, banana peels, etc. Flew in and rented a car. Found the streets a pain to navigate and all the bicycles irritating. People in the city would talk to you when they saw your GT garb and overall were friendly. Temple fans pretty much indifferent.

In conclusion, been to Philly twice: my first and last time.
 
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