Rose Bowel Tradition
Mike Jaixen
Just got off the plane from smoggy California, with
some comments about the atmosphere at the National
Championship game. We all know how the game went.
First of all, the setting was unbelievable. The
stadium sits in the middle of a river gorge,
surrounded by a golf course, trees, and tens-of-
thousands of Big Red fans. A beautiful setting
for an anticpated big game.
Then we head from the parking lot and get in line
to enter the stadium at approximately 3:45 pm, an
hour and a half before kickoff. The line is several
hundred feet long, but hey there's plenty of time.
There are only 6 entrances to the stadium, which
concerns me.
4:15 pm, and we've moved about a hundred feet. My
wife holds the spot in line while I ask a couple of
Pasadena police officers who are standing around
chatting if we are in the proper line to get into
the stadium. They shrug their shoulders.
About 10 minutes later, I see some security people
in yellow jackets, and I walk over and ask them if
we are in the correct line, and they say yes.
4:45 pm we are still about 300 feet away from the
stadium when the line finally starts to move. 10
minutes later, I'm at the gate. Apparantly, Rose
Bowl security realized that if they continued to
completely search every fan going into the stadium,
some fans might still be waiting in line in the
4th quarter.
I then get into the next line, to get into stands.
That line is also a couple hundred feet long, and
not moving very fast either. I ask a couple of
ushers who are stationed along the entrance tunnel
how to get to my seats. The first one says "I'm
just a volunteer" and the second one sends me the
wrong way. Somehow, I manage to get to my seat
before the opening kickoff.
At halftime, my brother-in-law goes down to get
some food, since he didn't get anything to eat before
the game. It took the entire halftime and almost
the entire 3rd quarter to get food.
After the game, somebody at the Rose Bowl decided
to set up fences. Apparantly they were set up for
the shuttle buses. However, there were no security
guards or ushers directing people into the proper
lines. Fans funneled into the lines between the
fence and the stadium from each direction - and
met in the middle in a huge human traffic jam.
People started pushing and people were getting
smashed against the fence, until people started to
jump the fence to make it through to the parking
lot.
I have been to many college football games, and have
never been to a more incompetently organized event
in my life. Yes, security concerns are greater in
this post-9/11 society. But that was no excuse on
the part of the Rose Bowl Committee to fail to
plan on how to handle a crowd of 90,000 people.
Based on what I saw in LA, if the fans of the Bigger
Ten and Pac-10 conference schools like being treated
like cattle, they can have the Rose Bowel game as
long as they want it. (Spelling intentional.)
The "Grandaddy of 'em all" belongs in a nursing home,
as it is no longer competent. I expected traffic,
I expected congestion. But I didn't expect this.
The Rose Bowel committee should be ashamed of
themselves.
=====
Mike Jaixen
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Glen Heiman
> First of all, the setting was unbelievable. The stadium sits in the middle of a river gorge,
> for an anticpated big game.
Your comments, and those of Mike Nolan's support what I have said on
this list in the past. The Rose Bowl is the best place to tailgate in
the country. During the season, the games are day games. Lawn chairs
on the grass (golf course), barbecues and beer, girls in halter tops in
October, and the above mentioned setting make for a great day.
> After the game, somebody at the Rose Bowl decided to set up fences. Apparantly they were set up for
> the shuttle buses. However, there were no security guards or ushers directing people into the proper
> lines. Fans funneled into the lines between the fence and the stadium from each direction - and
> met in the middle in a huge human traffic jam. People started pushing and people were getting
> smashed against the fence, until people started to jump the fence to make it through to the parking
> lot.
>
> I have been to many college football games, and have never been to a more incompetently organized event
> in my life. Yes, security concerns are greater in this post-9/11 society. But that was no excuse on
> the part of the Rose Bowl Committee to fail to plan on how to handle a crowd of 90,000 people.
>
...........................................
> The Rose Bowel committee should be ashamed of
> themselves.
> Mike Jaixen
>
I agree. I had not experienced the human traffic jam and such
disorganization at the Rose Bowl before and I have been to other Rose
Bowls. It must be this year's Rose Bowl organization because I attended
a UCLA game after 9/11 this year and did not have any of severe problems
that have been mentioned.
Heiman
Steve Reichenbach
>I have been to many college football games, and have
>never been to a more incompetently organized event
>in my life.
That is the truest post about the Rose Bowl that I have seen.
We arrived at 3:20, found the line at 3:30 and got into the
stadium nearly two hours later. They searched 70-year-old
women for three hours and then when they finally figured out
that thousands of people who had been waiting for hours weren't
going to get in, they let everyone remaining enter unsearched.
It was stupid. It doesn't take a genius to figure out how many
people working at a certain rate are required to do a job.
Leaving the game, in the crush for the busses, I was concerned
about the safety of my kids. I think if it hadn't been generally
well-behaved NU fans, the terrible organization could have been
fatal (e.g., using the same procedures at a concert). They needed
different procedures, better training, or more people. It was by
far the poorest organization of any large event that I have ever
attended.
The Rose Bowl has great tradition, but I'd rather go to a game in
Nebraska's Memorial Stadium --- it is better organized and has better
scoreboards, better visibility (because of the Rose Bowl's small
slope), and a much better sound system.
todd strong
t.v. or in person or what? Or am I spoiled by the Memorial Stadium, (notice
no Tom Osborne reference here i.e. Tom Osborne field)?
"Steve Reichenbach" <re...@inetnebr.com> wrote in message
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