Attending big game (@Mizzou) to get the feel of football Saturdays

Parents Forum
1

3 parts - Background, Plan, Questions. Some of the questions are best answered by folks with specific knowledge of Mizzou, but others are more general in relation to colleges on game Saturdays…

BACKGROUND:

We’ve got 3 kids - oldest are current HS Junior and HS Sophomore.

None of our kids are much into watching sports. They’re not especially opposed, just not really fans… The youngest, still in middle school, is most enthused about going to baseball games and such with dad - the other two - meh - once in a while…

Still, I thought it would be good to expose them at least once to the atmosphere of state U on a big game (more or less) football Saturday.

Some reasons:

  • Even if they're not too excited about going to see MLB games, they might like the buzz of college football.
  • I really liked going to college football games in my college years (at a public, state university that was doing well in football at the time.)
  • If the atmosphere is, for some reason, a huge turn-off to them, then they should probably know that, too, and adjust their college lists accordingly.

I’ve made the suggestion to them, and they’re up for doing it.

===

PLAN:

Drive about 2 hours to Mizzou (University of Missouri, our state’s flagship) for the 3PM September 24th game against Delaware State.

Either leave the Friday before, missing a couple of their classes, and make it to campus in time for an official tour (supposedly the last time to schedule a tour is Friday at 4PM - no tours on weekends), or skip this and either come down a bit later on Friday (thus not missing any school) or Saturday morning. Return after the game Saturday evening.

Of note - Mizzou is not super high on either of their lists - it will perhaps be a safety school. But the the junior IS quite interested in Michigan, and the sophomore fairly interested in Georgia Tech - both schools where football is a pretty big deal. Delaware State is not really a big game for Mizzou, but hopefully they’ll win, and tickets should be easier to come by than for an SEC opponent.

It has been ~30+ years since I’ve been to a Mizzou game. I’m not an alum, but am somewhat familiar with the school and the area. We did spend a bit of time on the campus only ~1.5 years ago. I don’t have a great feel for how some of the logistical issues - parking, crowds, etc, will turn out…

===
So, remembering it’s a 3pm Saturday game against a minor opponent…

QUESTIONS:

If we don’t plan on tailgating, do we need to spring for a pricey parking pass, or will there be free parking (or cheap parking we can pay for on day of game) we can hike/bus in for?

Any specific thoughts on best site to find cheap, but decent, tickets for a game with relatively low demand? (Mizzou’s own site? Craigslist? Stubhub? Other?)

As relative outsiders, cheering for Mizzou, but not crazy students, alum, etc, will we feel at home, comfortable in the stands? Do we need to gear up in any way (t-shirts and the like)?

How much will we likely get out of a self-tour of the campus that Saturday morning or the Friday before? Will the campus be whacky because of the game? Are there good resources for a self-tour?

If we want to eat at the campus hot spots on the trip (especially Shakespeare’s Pizza), will they be too crowded before/after the game?

Will hotel rates be sky-high the night before?

Any other thoughts on this plan in general, or the specifics? Have others done something like this?

2

I’d skip the official tour at this stage and just walk around the school on your own on Sat morning. You’ll be able to see the basics - classroom building, student union (or whatever they call it), bookstore, shops, town. You are just trying to get a feel for the big school, not necessarily that school.

You should be able to buy tickets through the ticket office.

3

Last year my H, a Michigan alum, took our S to tour U of Michigan and go to a football game. Although my son is not a huge sports fan, he loved it and is now a freshman at Michigan. Going to a football weekend confirmed his feeling that he wanted a big school with big school sports and school spirit.

We dropped our son off a couple weeks ago and my H and I stayed to attend the football game that weekend, against a minor opponent. I’ll try to answer some of your questions from the perspective of having attended that game. I’m sure there will be some differences at Mizzou.

Free or cheap parking was available if you got there at least 3 hours in advance.

Stubhub is good for tickets.

You will feel comfortable in the stands. You don’t need to gear up, although your kids might enjoy a t-shirt or cap. Just don’t stand out. The woman in our section wearing bright red in a sea of maize and blue really looked out of place. Especially make sure not to wear the other teams colors.

Campus will be fine, but fraternities off campus will be partying hard.

Hotel rates in Ann Arbor were high and most required a 2 night stay. Farther out places were a better deal. On the other hand, many hotels had shuttles to the game so you wouldn’t have to deal with parking.

Have fun at the game!

4

Since Mizzou is only 2 hrs away I would leave early Saturday morning, walk the campus, hit the bookstore for a T-shirt and have lunch on or near campus. Then enjoy the game itself. I have been to a view college games are they are great. I have meet many a college student who regrets their college of choice did not have a football team.

5

Just went through Columbia and walked around Mizzou this summer on a cross country trek - frankly, it is still a beautiful campus despite the ugly press the school got last year. There is a lot of updates, but Jesse Hall and the Iconic Columns in the quad are as gorgeous as any landmark at other schools, (be sure to go to the front and back of Jesse Hall) then surrounded by the old school style classic brick buildings - it is prettier than I remember, or I just appreciate architecture more now than when I was 18. We were there around July 4th and they had huge flags hanging between each column, it was breathtaking. I don’t think you will have any issue finding parking - it’s not like you are going into NYC, Columbia has built up enough that there seems to be more, or at least better ways to loop around campus than the many years ago when I was there. The ramp into the campus on the St. Louis side of 70 has really been built up. Agree, just go up early Saturday morning and snag your parking and look for eats and tshirts. (College kids do not start early.) @Grainraiser has the right plan. I’d try to get up there around 10, that should be early enough to get parking and time to eat, shop and get to game. Part of seeing a football game is seeing all the students head to the football game and the rah rah to kickoff. Let us know how it goes. I can still remember involuntarily crowd surfing one of those games a zillion years ago, what a riot thinking back on that…fun times in Tiger stadium!

Just a side note - while most are awesome college kids, keep in mind some can get pretty crazy at the games (i.e. drinking) so may just want to know how you want to handle your kids potentially coming across over-eager (drunk) fans (if you do). Not from a safety standpoint, just from a discussion kind of thing on the way home. If you run across any, it might be a great time to discuss why you don’t drink beyond control…maybe not an issue, perhaps it will be pretty calm…it is college football however. :slight_smile:

Have great fun!

6

I agree with going on Saturday, if you go. Do not take the kids out of school for an activity they are not overly enthused about. Frankly, one does not need to be a sports fan at a large flagship U. Even if the majority of students were to attend (unlikely given the number of student tickets available, even at the big Michigan stadium) there will still be plenty doing other things during the games. In fact, if your kids do not really want to go I would skip it. As above, student behaviors will be suboptimal on game day…

7

I think it is a great idea to get the big school vs. Div 3 small school conversations started! Plus it will be fun. I agree with perhaps doing a self guided tour – most big colleges even have a plan with notes to guide you. I only know about Michigan but there will be parties spilling out onto the campus fringes and kids drinking if that is a concern with exposing the younger to that.

8

I would recommend posting your question (parking, tickets, best places to eat) in a forum dedicated to Mizzu sports. Google “Tigerboard”. The football forum is very active.

You likely can also get tickets in the alumni sections, which goes a long ways to avoiding obnoxious students. :slight_smile:

Have fun!

9

The city of Columbia has football shuttle buses that pick up at various area hotels: that was our parking solution for homecoming last year. Cheap and easy.

10

If the weekend game you picked is either homecoming or parents’ weekend, there may be more traffic or higher hotel prices.

11

Quick after trip report:

Went to the game this past Saturday. Drove down Saturday a.m., returned later in the day. Shakespeare’s for lunch. No official tour available, and really poor resources on Mizzou’s site for self guided tours, so far as I could find them.

But we ended up connecting with daughter of our neighbor who is either a recent grad or still finishing her last few classes (her status was a bit confusing to me), who gave us a quick mini-tour, and some background color on her experiences, views, etc.

Parked too far away from the game, and then wife hurt her ankle pretty badly walking to the game (twisted or something). Got to the game, able to get ice from first aid station for my wife, and settled into our nosebleed seats for the game.

Game was a laugher blowout (in Mizzou’s favor). But it was also super hot. Temps around 89-90, which doesn’t seem TOO high, but it was humid and mostly no breeze in the stands. And game was really SLOW. We ended up leaving at the end of first quarter (yeah, I know), but that was already ~an hour after scheduled start, and between wife’s ankle, general heat*, and somewhat lackluster game, that was enough. Parked wife and one daughter at a resting area close to stadium, then hiked with other kids to get our distant vehicle, and as we returned (probably middle of second quarter), there was a large stream of others exiting the game, coming down the street away from the game. (i.e. we left before most, but many others left very early too).

Grabbed some fast food in Columbia, then headed home. Saw lots of tiger tails both on the way down and on the way back. I think the kids DID get a pretty good feel for what the whole game day experience. Oldest daughter remains somewhat interested in Mizzou, but as a safety. Son (HS sophomore) not too interested in Mizzou - not his kind of crowd, and he’s probably right. But they’ve both got other schools on their list that play major conference football, and now they’ve got a feel for it.

12

Thanks for updating, always good to see how things turn out. Sorry to hear about your wife’s ankle, ugh. The size of a college campus seems lot bigger for me than it was when I was 18. :slight_smile: Don’t feel bad, my kids seldom last through an entire game unless it is nail biter. Even then, they are really loooong.

13

I meant to follow up the asterisk *, about the heat, with some details. Started to in that post, edited them out, but I’ll mention them here.

It was really hot and humid. Nasty. Not at all what you’d expect in late September in Missouri. But probably not unprecedented for a Mizzou home game, especially perhaps some that occur earlier in September.

The stadium and their personnel were, IMO, pretty ill equipped for the heat. There were no vendors circulating with cold stuff, or any stuff, at least in our section. This may not be all that rare for college games (I seem to recall the same for my alma mater decades ago).

The concession stands also were ill equipped to deal with hot weather - mostly selling warm things like hot dogs. I don’t think they had soda with ice for sale (not sure), but rather, only stuff in 16 ounce plastic bottles in a cooler (i.e. probably not that cold to begin with, and not likely to stay cold).

My wife, in addition to her ankle, looked borderline like she was having heat stroke or something (red/pink flushed face), and when we pulled out of our seats, we initially rested a bit in the shade under the stands - could see others who were similarly affected. On an earlier scouting mission to find something cold, I’d passed two women with ~6 month old babies strapped to them, leaving or seeking something/somewhere to cool off. I didn’t envy them.

Bottom line, the stadium seemed ill equipped to keep its guests cool and healthy on an unusually hot day. I would not be surprised at all if they had some folks with at least moderately significant adverse health scenarios in the stands that day.

It was another of various indicators I had on/leading up to this visit, and over the last year or two, that Mizzou administration, in various ways, is not, let’s say, the cream of the crop…

14

I don’t think it is unusual for vendors not to be selling in the stands anymore. We learned recently that CU no longer allows alcohol to be purchased on the concourse and brought back into the stands. Strange but true.

Two years ago my sister took my father to a CU game and it was really hot too, like over 90. He’s old and uses a cane or walker. She asked one of the ushers if he had a seat for the old guy so he didn’t have to climb. The guy was so nice he took him into the boxes and let him watch in air conditioned comfort. The only down side was that my father was cheering for the other team that day (his alma mater), so he couldn’t hoot and holler, but CU creamed them anyway.

I’m going to a game in Nov. One friend is worried it will be too cold, but I’m thinking it will be hot and we’ll be shedding layers.

15

Cold, within reason, can be planned for and dealt with. Layers and all that.

But heat is harder to deal with. We dressed lightly (except most of us wore a dark gray or black t-shirt - Mizzou color. But full sun exposure, sporadically (we were partly shaded at game start but the sun was moving such that it didn’t last, and wouldn’t return for a long time), humidity, lack of breeze, and heat are things that one has little control over.

Access to ice, etc, could have been widely provided by stadium staff, with foresight, but basically wasn’t (although, again, my wife DID get an ice pack at a first aid station). I grant that it was hard to anticipate such unseasonably warm weather, deep into September, but if I were in charge of the stadium and had sufficient funding, I hope I could and would have made better provision for this scenario.