Last week, I wrote an article about a small corner of my campus that I had never explored or even thought about before. I figured a good way to contrast that single experience is to write about a place I go all the time in the fall semester.
Did I say “fall semester?” I meant “football season.”
At my university, a football game is not a few hours on a Saturday night; it is an event that directs the course of the entire day, even the entire weekend.
Friday nights, I go to a poetry open mic, which is fun and a good way to de-stress from the week. I catch up with people in my dorm and relax for the rest of the night.
Saturday morning, I get up and ready for the day. My dorm (both this past year and now again this year) is right by the basketball stadium, which is where students can pick up football tickets. I could go and get these tickets at any time, but mornings are best because there are still some left.
I go through the line and get a wristband that tells me which end zone to go to and the section of seats I can choose from. Students sit at the north and south end zones. This student section is called the “Inferno” because we’re Sun Devils. Hooray for continuity.
I have a few hours to spend in my dorm room before I wander back to the football stadium. I’m lucky that I am so close. I wait in line for maybe a half an hour, but that is only because I am so early and the gates haven’t opened yet. There are people who wait until now to get their tickets, and they might wait twice the time.
My souvenir cup is in my hand because it gets me a discounted refill at the vendors inside. These games are marketed well outside campus and twice as well inside. I am here about forty-five minutes before kickoff because that’s the only way I can get a reasonable seat. I’m not too picky, but some people come in large groups and get split up because the concrete slab seats are filled with strangers wearing the same maroon and gold. Many times, students who come early get free shirts that are waiting for us at the seats. The custom then becomes bargaining with people around you for a shirt my size, which is a good way to meet people but a bad way to remember their names.
Then the videos play, and the marching band comes out and gets the students hyped. The fireworks go off when the team gets on the field. Hooray for continuity. The game starts and I get tired by the end of the fourth quarter and head back to my dorm. I have church tomorrow morning, after all.
Recently, there was news of revamped football locker rooms and planned upgrades to the stadium seating. As someone who often ends up at the nosebleeds of an end zone, this will be a treat to watch.
I can’t wait to get back to Sun Devil Stadium.