COLUMBIA
I suppose I could hold Columbia for last, but that would be silly since I have written so much about the fan experience at Wien Stadium that there's not much mystery to the realities at a Columbia home game. So, let's keep this going in alphabetical order.
For an incredibly detailed guide to Robert K. Kraft Field at Wien Stadium on the Baker Field Athletics Complex (a mouthful for sure) check here and be ready for my updated 2023 version coming in about 15 weeks.
But here's the shorter version:
Parking and tailgating at the complex are basically non-starters. If you're not a special donor with one of the few coveted spots beside the stadium, I highly suggest not driving directly to the game or at least being ready to use the parking garages in the local neighborhood.
Tailgating space really doesn't exist, but you can have a picnic on the hilly lawn just in front of the stadium and there are usually some picnic tables available.
Columbia once had decent tailgating space in the area now occupied by the Allen Pavilion of Columbia Presbyterian Hospital, much to the continuing anger of the older alumni who remember more spacious days.
The stadium itself offers more comfort, including a good number of chairback seats and great views of the river from the seats higher up in the stands. The new Columbia tennis center is now blocking some of that view, including the iconic blue "C" painted on the rocks above the water. But it's all still visible from the top row or two. I suspect this will create similar anger to the Harvard fans who decried the building of a new structure in front of the open part of Harvard Stadium, thus blocking the view of the Charles River fans used to enjoy.
As far as the neighborhood goes, the Inwood section of Manhattan continues to gentrify and offer lots of new restaurant and bar options. But I suspect most fans will simply want to travel back to Midtown Manhattan or Downtown to enjoy those options. Only Wien Stadium and Franklin Field offer Ivy fans a venue so close to a major city center.
Columbia also installed a massive new video screen last season which probably is the biggest in the league in comparison to the size of the overall stadium. The often illegible official scoreboard (when the sun glares on it) has also been replaced in the last few months.
The stadium is another one of the Ivy venues that offers no cover from harsh weather conditions when they occur. If it looks like rain, bring an umbrella. If you burn easily, load up on the sunscreen.
The road stands are pretty decent and plentiful. Though no chairback seats are available on the visitor side.
Fan food options are good at the concession stands, but the days of added concession and open pit BBQ's in the concourse area seem to have gone away in recent years. They may come back.
Columbia puts its best foot forward at Homecoming, which is extremely fan and family friendly no matter whom you're rooting for. The annual Homecoming tent, carnival, and free product giveaways make it very special to be our Homecoming opponent, period.
The broadcaster/reporter experience at Columbia is pretty stellar. Lots of good food and other amenities are provided in the press area. It's been 39 years now since the new Wien Stadium replaced the old Baker Field, and some updates are needed by now. But comfort is still not an issue at all.
Overall, I think it's fair to say that if you're okay with a mini picnic replacing a bigger tailgate, and you plan ahead for transportation or parking, the fan experience at Wien Stadium is very good. But I can still objectively say it's not the best in the Ivies, or even in the top three. Perhaps on Homecoming day it is, but that's it.
6 comments:
Jake, I think you are bending over too far in attempting to be neutral.. We have the best fan and viewing experience in the Ivies if one excludes tailgating. The setting is magnificent and the stadium itself is just the right size for Ivy football. Concessions are fine, the staff is polite and helpful, and there is a feeling of intimacy with the action which is absent from all of the other Ivy stadiums.
Agree!
And the whole Baker Field Complex has been spruced up, befitting a program and a neighborhood that's gone from longsuffering to upbeat, dare I say gentrified. Now if we just had a beer and wine concession area from which one could watch the game--as Penn and Brown do--it really would be an ideal urban setting for college football.
Hear, hear allegaert! On all counts.
I guess I'm in the minority with concessions. Not a lot of options and what is there is average at best. "Soft" pretzels for $6 are way too high for the crappy, stale pretzel that you actually get. Drink variety is pretty minimal as well.
I would love to see CU football engage with local food trucks. Rotate different options in for the games for hot food items. Get a open pit BBQ going that offered fries and a sandwich. Then CU concessions can focus on drinks, hot dogs, popcorn and much of the simpler stuff. I'd also love to see the school allow for students to use meal swipes at the stadium for some food. Much easier to get students to a game around lunch time if they could actually eat lunch there.
This was my first year as a CU fan and I was not impressed with concessions at all. I think there are some easy ideas that the school could implement quickly that would greatly improve that concessions at WEIN.
Hokie's ideas make great sense to me.
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