South Bend Experience

ronricks said:
ND hasn't won anything in over 25 years. Not sure why anyone in 2015 would be in awe of them.
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Not saying people are actually in awe, though I suppose if you're really old and/or have a deep appreciation for college football history that's not tempered by general disdain for Notre Dame, the place is a big deal.

I'm saying that it seems like the "be nice to/ignore the visitors" thing is at least partially derived from a feeling that they're better than everybody else, kinda like how nobody talks smack to fans of I-AA teams.

JRjr
 
Fans: Overall pretty nice. We had one annoying guy in our GTAA section, but it was more because how the game was going for us.

Stadium: Other than the "mystique" it's a pretty miserable stadium. There's only two small scoreboards with no video screen, no stats, or anything else. Just score, down/distance, time remaining, and time outs. One of them is covering TD Jesus which doesn't make any sense. They have an internal flagpole that looks like it's blocking the view of the field for a section. And some construction that made it looked like a steel yard.

Students: I thought their student section was quality. It helps when it's a big game and you're winning, but all their cheers look real good from the stands. They were also in their seats well before kickoff and packed in there.

Overall no real complaints. But if any other team played in that stadium it would be considered one of the worst/ugliest facilities in the country.
 
gtrower said:
Stadium: Other than the "mystique" it's a pretty miserable stadium. There's only two small scoreboards with no video screen, no stats, or anything else. Just score, down/distance, time remaining, and time outs. One of them is covering TD Jesus which doesn't make any sense. They have an internal flagpole that looks like it's blocking the view of the field for a section. And some construction that made it looked like a steel yard.
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I like the bare-bones nature of the stadium. I was pretty happy without a Jumbotron. If anything, I wished they were MORE old-school and didn't constantly pump crappy music through a crappy PA.

I didn't like the fact that we couldn't hear the band at all (at the rare times where we had something to sing about) because a) they were on the field and facing the wrong way, and b) the loud-ass ND band played over everything we played.

JRjr
 
vapspwi said:
I didn't like the fact that we couldn't hear the band at all (at the rare times where we had something to sing about) because a) they were on the field and facing the wrong way, and b) the loud-ass ND band played over everything we played.

JRjr
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Probably my biggest complaint as well (albeit pretty minor).

I wish the band just turned towards the GT section during the Budweiser song. We played it before the end of the quarter (I'm guessing to let the ND band do whatever it is they do during that time), but then the ND band played over it anyways. Our section was struggling to hear it.
 
Deke said:
Probably my biggest complaint as well (albeit pretty minor).

I wish the band just turned towards the GT section during the Budweiser song. We played it before the end of the quarter (I'm guessing to let the ND band do whatever it is they do during that time), but then the ND band played over it anyways. Our section was struggling to hear it.
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Huh, I was waiting for it and didn't hear it at all...I just assumed they didn't play it.
 
vapspwi said:
I like the bare-bones nature of the stadium. I was pretty happy without a Jumbotron. If anything, I wished they were MORE old-school and didn't constantly pump crappy music through a crappy PA.

JRjr
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I only caught from mid 3rd quarter to the end on TV, and I noticed ALOT of crappy piped-in music.
 
The campus seems very boring and I cannot imagine how miserable that place must be in the dead of winter when its 0 degrees with snow everywhere.

Besides the history and mystique which don't get you very far the stadium is pretty crappy. The wooden bleachers are terrible. They are narrow and beaten up with splinters. Not having a jumbotron in 2015 is inexcusable I think. They PA music would play until we basically snapped the ball, I don't see how that is allowed and their band playing during that time as well was poor form. The play clock was hidden in the stands and almost impossible to spot. I thought the actual crowd noise was weak and it was only loud when the music was blaring. The bathrooms in the 100 level were tiny. The staff was very friendly but they ran out of hotdogs to start the 4th which was pretty disappointing at the time.

After going in 2007 and 2015, I must admit it's not a place I'd be wanting to visit again.
 
let's play "find the play clock"

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As I said earlier, all of this borders on cheating in my mind and is intended to create an unfair advantage. There's no way anyone was able to communicate it even think clearly on our sideline due to the noise and its amplification.

As I said. They get waxed by Clemson.
 
GTMensLax&SoccerD1Soon! said:
As I said earlier, all of this borders on cheating in my mind and is intended to create an unfair advantage. There's no way anyone was able to communicate it even think clearly on our sideline due to the noise and its amplification.
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A home team trying to get a home field advantage!?!?

Say it isn't so!!!! :turbonoes:
 
ND fans were very friendly and several wished us luck. Had conversation with two young (11- 12 year old) after the game. They asked about our campus and how far we traveled.

Negative: Noise every down up to the snap of the ball. If it wasn't from the band, it was from the loud speakers. Felt like someone being forced to confess.
 
That was a hostile place to play, no doubt. We looked lost on both sides of the ball before the snap for a long time. Even when I knew where the play clock was it was hard to find. They definitely have that place set up for home field advantage.

They also need more bathrooms. I gave up after seeing the line for the urinal. I hope the new construction includes some new facilitates.
 
Fans were fine. Stadium was fine. We would all like the charm better if we had won. Fantastic experience except for the 3 1/2 hours of football....

Wrigley was great too. Wish I could have stayed to watch the bears get their arse beat.
 
05GTCorndog said:
A home team trying to get a home field advantage!?!?

Say it isn't so!!!! :turbonoes:
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This is not 'nam, there are rules!

If it's legal then we should immediately move our band to behind the opposing teams bench and then further amplify it right into the teams sideline with two massive speakers. Something tells me there is a rule violation in there somewhere. Fans can't have noise makers but the NCAA is going to let 100+ instruments blast right into a teams bench from about 20' away!?

All said, we still got manhandled between the whistles.

I do echo that it was my single most enjoyable non bobby Dodd football experience. Very special weekend for me and my buddies. But the natives sure are weird looking people. Kind of strange.
 
GTMensLax&SoccerD1Soon! said:
This is not 'nam, there are rules!

If it's legal then we should immediately move our band to behind the opposing teams bench and then further amplify it right into the teams sideline with two massive speakers. Something tells me there is a rule violation in there somewhere. Fans can't have noise makers but the NCAA is going to let 100+ instruments blast right into a teams bench from about 20' away!?

All said, we still got manhandled between the whistles.

I do echo that it was my single most enjoyable non bobby Dodd football experience. Very special weekend for me and my buddies. But the natives sure are weird looking people. Kind of strange.
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Have to agree with what you're saying. The placement of the band didn't bother me that much simply because it is a quirk of a historic stadium, but the fact that they played well into the play clock did. They also piped in music right up until the end of our play clock regularly as well, at one point it was playing even as we snapped it.

Does anyone know what the rules are as to when music needs to stop? It's far down on the list of reasons why we lost, but it certainly contributed to the presnap confusion that plagued us all game and is a legitimate advantage. I would think it's against the rules but it was so pervasive I find it hard to believe the refs wouldn't have done something if it was.
 
andrew said:
Have to agree with what you're saying. The placement of the band didn't bother me that much simply because it is a quirk of a historic stadium, but the fact that they played well into the play clock did. They also piped in music right up until the end of our play clock regularly as well, at one point it was playing even as we snapped it.

Does anyone know what the rules are as to when music needs to stop? It's far down on the list of reasons why we lost, but it certainly contributed to the presnap confusion that plagued us all game and is a legitimate advantage. I would think it's against the rules but it was so pervasive I find it hard to believe the refs wouldn't have done something if it was.
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I'm with you on the "isn't there a rule???" thing. I'm guessing this will be something brought to their attention by the officials and they'll be fined if it continues. Easily dealt with by ND, much like murder evidently. I don't know if the officials could have done anything during the game. Would come across as "you stop that you bad bad people..."


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gespacho_the_slender said:
I'm with you on the "isn't there a rule???" thing. I'm guessing this will be something brought to their attention by the officials and they'll be fined if it continues. Easily dealt with by ND, much like murder evidently. I don't know if the officials could have done anything during the game. Would come across as "you stop that you bad bad people..."


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Agreed. PJ ain't no bitch. Like calling a foul in pick up basketball.
 
gespacho_the_slender said:
I'm with you on the "isn't there a rule???" thing. I'm guessing this will be something brought to their attention by the officials and they'll be fined if it continues. Easily dealt with by ND, much like murder evidently. I don't know if the officials could have done anything during the game. Would come across as "you stop that you bad bad people..."


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This article would seem to indicate it's a conference decision. So it could be a loophole in ND's independent situation...

If there was a rule, I think the refs could have fairly easily done something. You certainly don't start off by penalizing them, but you warn the sideline privately, then the next time it happens you announce the warning publicly, then it's a fifteen yard penalty each time. I think it would have stopped pretty quickly and been tough for anyone to complain about. It's not like this was a borderline type of thing.

http://www.saturdaydownsouth.com/2014/sec-will-relax-rules-regarding-sound-music/
 
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