College Football 2020 (and 2021??)

Back from my morning walk around the neighborhood (the University of Alabama campus). That's one good thing about being retired: I can take my walks in the morning while it's a little cooler.

Anyway the construction fences are starting to come down around Bryant-Denny Stadium as improvement/expansion work concludes. The fence came down on the north side where the Walk of Champions leads into a tunnel now and directly to the Tide locker room entrance.

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Previously the cement stairs went all the way across. And to allay the fears of college football fans everywhere, the brick sidewalk pattern shows there is room for six more drop-in Nattie marble mega-plaques in the walkway. That should last us up to about 2030, right?

Head on view of the new entrance:

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And at the new doors looking back at the WoC (currently 17 Nattie mega-plaques between here and the street out there):

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These guys are puttin' some clean on the windows before they leave (this is one of the mezzanine levels that has been turned into luxury clubs and loge seating):

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The new additions do hang out over Wallace Wade Avenue.

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The CBS/ESPN production trucks usually park there in the street with all the cables laying in the road (blocked off from auto traffic of course). But the stadium supports are closer to the street now than any part of the stadium used to be. I wonder if the street will become one-way during regular traffic times.

Of course, the thing I am MOST excited about is the new elevator shaft they added to this corner of the stadium. A stairwell (down only I am sure) and two elevators (one for the club level no doubt and one to the top level where my seats are).

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The good thing is the elevator door at the top is RIGHT IN FRONT of my season ticket section. Before it was a 15-minute walk leaving my seat at the end of the game down the spiral walkway to the ground level to get to my living room couch. Between the elevator or stairwell, I could shave 5 minutes off my time, don't ya think? I've used the stairwells on the north side of the stadium in year past when I tailgated and going down is not bad at all.

Took a peek at StubHub for the first Bama home game against the Aggies end of the month. While the get-in price is currently $149 and bound to come down (upper deck north end zone row 31 for a 230pm sunny kick-off: sure :sad2: ) everybody's ticket listing is for a PAIR of tickets. In the old days, you could buy a single and sit next to a stranger. In these covid times, nobody knows who might sit next to them (there is social distancing between the pairs of seats because we are limited to 20% capacity). So it's likely if you sell one ticket of a pair, the second ticket will likely go unsold. Oh there are singles available from the fat cats who got four so their listing shows they will sell 1-4 of that set but the get-in price for those is nearly $500. Also not happening.

So I'm gonna watch the ticket situation on SH and see if anybody gets desperate enough to break their pair up and sell a single. Living as close as I do, I can afford to wait till right before kick-off. (I was offered a choice of games for season tickets and took those games at the end of the season - so this first game has me looking at the secondary market).

We shall see.

Bama Ed
 
The Green Wave leading Navy early. Pulling for your team, Pluto. :cheer2: ED
 
Looking good so far. We should stick to the run a while longer. Spears (22) looks like he’s gonna be a really good one.
 


This has taken a turn for the worse.
Navy within 8. Don’t think we got a first down in the 3rd quarter. Combination of awful passes and dropped passes. And we shouldn’t have been throwing the ball anyway.
 


Walked by the stadium today.

Fire alarms were testing/beeping/flashing. Fences coming down. Pavement getting fresh asphalt and traffic paint lines. I'll be able to tell when they do the FLUSH test when I lose water pressure at my house. :scared:

Texas A&M is the first home game in Title Town in 10 days and prices are down to $95 per seat on StubHub as the get-in price but still only in pairs.

But I am a patient man and will wait to get some cheap singles possibly. Won't pay more than $99 per single but as I said, I can wait till the last minute if need be.

Bama Ed 🏈
 
I just checked the 'Bama/Missouri score. 10 minutes in and Alabama is only up by 7.

Something a miss or just 1st game jitters?

j
 
Look again. Bama by 14. 3 min left in1Q.

Are you an LSWho fan Jim? The defending national champions just lost to the team from Starkvegas.

Obvious for all to see - and it wasn't even close.

Bama Ed

PS - and when youre playing someone that Vegas says you should beat by 4TD's, you don't show EVERY play you have in your playbook in week 1.

PPS - Be patient my friend. And welcome to the Crimson Wave. We are glad to have you.

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And now up by 3TD one minute into the second quarter.
 
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I just saw the 3rd TD. That's a lille more what I was expecting.

I could be a 'Bama fan. Never really paid much attention to college ball. Since STL just loses pro teams, not much there either.

You know baseball is where I'll focus for stick and ball sports.

Go Cards!

j
 
I just saw the 3rd TD. That's a lille more what I was expecting.

See when Saban gets ahead of the teams he should beat, he takes his foot off the gas. He's not gonna embarrass the other side. He doesn't care what the betting line is. He could win by 70 but he doesn't.

And I'm reasonably sure I'll see him and Miss Terry (Mrs. Saban) at church tomorrow morning at 845am. Because after that he crosses the street to the football office to watch film on the next opponent.

That's how he's wired.

Bama Ed
 
I learned during the Tulane game that 2 of the 4 active coaches with 200+ college wins have been head coach at Tulane. (Not that it’s helped us a whole lot)

we got off to another slow start against USM, falling behind 14-0 quickly. The starter (transfer from USM) threw 2 horrible passes on the first series. The second series started at their 8 and was all runs

We changed QBs to a freshman after our 2nd series and closed the game on a 66-10 run.

Most we’ve scored against an FBS team since 1998. We were really good that year.
 
We changed QBs to a freshman after our 2nd series and closed the game on a 66-10 run.

Most we’ve scored against an FBS team since 1998. We were really good that year.

Bet he'll be the starter now, wouldn't you think? :rolleyes:
 
A little late on this, but I love Mike Leach!

sure, they’re going to blow 2 games they should win because that’s what his teams do. But they won the one that matters 😀
 
A little late on this, but I love Mike Leach!

sure, they’re going to blow 2 games they should win because that’s what his teams do. But they won the one that matters 😀

LSWho fans are mad. :furious:

The Pirate is now beloved by the SEC. BOY the Egg Bowl is going to be fun to watch this year.

Bama Ed
 
Still watching StubHub for Texas A&M ticket prices on Saturday's game.

Get-in price is now down to $90/seat but still locked into pairs. But hey, it's Wednesday.

One thing I did not count on, however, was the FEES that SH charges. I've frequently been a seller of tickets on SH but not a buyer. Been a long time since I did that. Anyway, on the $90 get-in ticket the fees average out to an extra $25! Which is a big percentage in my book (fees were an afterthought in my mind and not a consideration). That's as bad as TicketMaster.

Stupid covid. Gone are the days of waiting till kickoff and goin' down to the corner of the stadium and making an offer to the ticket guy standing with a fistful of tickets in the air. Or the lonely guy with a single who wants someone to offer him ANYTHING so he can get inside and watch the game.

I'll keep watching the prices hoping some singles start to be offered but now I have to consider stupid fees.

Bama Ed
 

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