I don’t think this will become a home game tradition to write a post like this every week, but after we published last week’s review of the gameday experience, there were some additional things I wanted to note after Penn State’s second home game of the season.
So, did you notice:
• Well, we actually begin with a quick note from the tailgating lots. Last week, lot 45 and a few others seemed to not have any clear trash bags. They were there in full this week.
• One of my biggest gripes with the initial gameday presentation was the scoreboard font and graphic system.
And it got a massive improvement from week one to week two. The fonts were consistent across the video boards and the ribbons along the south and north decks. More specifically, the italicization of the ribbon board’s time remaining in the quarter was adjusted to a standard font. The size and kerning was also improved on the ribbon board’s down and distance system.
• The out-of-town scoreboard system also improved – although it didn’t show up on the ribbon boards right away. Scores were accurate and various typos were improved. There was also a nice mix of games.
• One other scoreboard note that a few of you alerted me. The closed captioning is sporadic this year– at least on the south end zone scoreboard. (Truth be told I can’t fully see the bottom of the north end zone scoreboard.) It seems like they are more intermittent than previous years, and from an accessibility perspective, I’m surprised they aren’t there 100 percent of the time.
• I was quite surprised to see the Amica ad — as Audrey Snyder and a few others noted — on the field. They were located just outside of the end zones on the top right.
I am quite curious as to why they weren’t added week one. I’m also curious about why the Board of Trustees needed a public vote and meeting to approve the West Shore Home ad on the field but not this one. We may dig deeper into that topic later this week.
• Last week, Penn State amplified its announcement that both hockey teams will play at Beaver Stadium — the major news of the early sports year — to the stadium. Penn State didn’t follow suit with the adidas deal announcement.
• As a connoisseur of Nittanyville’s banners each season, this year’s lineup has been one of the best in recent years. My favorite is the Kaytron “Tron” themed banner.
• The “Are You Ready For The 4th Quarter” bit seemed to be better received with the improved flow from question to pump-up video. It’s certainly better than previous seasons and may catch on. I still don’t understand the point of the flag, though.
• Last week, we launched the Beaver Stadium Food Finder. I hope you found it useful and I’ve updated a few missed vendors after Saturday. I will say it opened up a little bit of an ongoing conversation in our household. My wife is pescatarian, meaning she doesn’t eat meat but does eat dairy products and fish. For the most part, the “meal” type food portions contain meat, leaving options like pretzels or nachos. Additionally, as a few people called out, there aren’t many gluten-free options inside the stadium.
• Something I wanted to follow up on from last week. It feels like an absolute miss that every grab-and-go kiosk only sells water or beer. I checked multiple but only saw alcohol and water. Many of them didn’t have lines on Saturday. However, many of the brick-and-mortar stands that do have soda have quite long lines. I fill up on food at the tailgate so I don’t need food when I get into the stadium. As a non-beer drinker during Penn State games, I would much prefer to grab a soda at one of those without lines than wait in a line. I also have to imagine for parents, it’s a bit frustrating to have to wait in two lines to get the entire family a drink. While Penn State has redone many contracts of late in terms of vendors, it’s a shame that new Pepsi deal didn’t include bottles.
• There are two Pennsylvania brands missing from the beverage and snack options. Yuengling is no longer sold inside of the stadium. Also, the candy options have switched from Hershey’s to Mars for the most part. There were Reese’s Pieces available but all of the other candy options came from Mars or Mondelez. Additionally, Penn State no longer lists Hershey as one of its sponsors on its sponsorship page. A few others confirmed they couldn’t find Twizzlers or traditional Reese’s Cups.
• I may have missed this last year but whoever at New Trail Brewing came up with the name Linebacker Bru for their IPA deserves a promotion. Even as a non-IPA drinker myself, I can appreciate that name.
What did you notice? Shoot us a note at darian@stuffsomerssays.com and we might discuss them on this week’s podcast.
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