I sat in the stands at the game yesterday to get a different perspective on a socially distanced game.
A couple of thoughts not included in the story:
• If the day comes that I don’t attend a game in the press box, I might buy tickets at the top of the stadium. I know many don’t like it there, but I love the view. It’s almost like watching coach’s film. It was a thing of beauty to watch Burks’ touchdown unfold from above.
• Yesterday was a perfect day for being outside at a game. The weather was great and it was a shame more couldn’t have enjoyed being there.
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Aloha Matt,
Thanks for the unique perspective.
Amazing there were more hog calls in my family room during the game than at the stadium 
GHG!
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I’ve often shaken my head at the fact that lower level tickets are more valued that seats 30/40 rows up and higher. For exactly the reason you mention, Matt…you can actually SEE everything better! A few times over the years, I’ve gotten “excellent” tickets in the first 5 rows of a football game. And while you can see the players on the bench (for the side you’re on) much more clearly, you are also blocked from seeing the live game action - and even if you can, you don’t have much perspective on how far they are running, etc. Not a good view to follow the game - which is why I’m there.
Yet, if you look at Stubhub and similar services, lower level seats are always a lot more expensive than those sections above them. Silly.
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I have always asked, Why do you think the play callers sit in the press box?
I think the Arkansas press box is one of the closest to the field in the SEC. Most are much higher up. Matt would have loved the old press box at TCU. It was like watching from the 40th floor of a sky rise. You could not watch without a GOOD set of field glasses. When I was a small boy, my dad had some access to end zone tickets at War Memorial Stadium. That’s where I saw several games. It made it clear who was the best blocker and where the holes were at during run plays. It’s a great place to watch a game, especially with video boards to watch replays.
I always tell people my usual Pig Heaven west seats are like watching a game on the biggest TV in the world. Would not trade for any in the lower bowl.
Used to sit in the south end zone at WMS. Great for seeing running plays develop but plays in the other end zone could be a problem in situations where there was not a lot of open area to see the ball. Of course it was fantastic for most anything in the south endzone.
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I was taught to watch from high in the endzone and watch the center of the line to know what was happening, it all starts there and even today very little bluffing can be achieved… I also like old grainy film that my dad would watch in our house before showing his team. I watch hockey always from second level behind the goal and see the actual play much like a fast break or screen develop as cannot be seen on television watching the puck. All baseball fans appreciate the action away from the ball, should be ditto for football. I thought Matt was going to do a Boston Mountain beauty soliloquy.
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I could have. I found myself gazing south at the mountains quite a bit.
My usual seat in on the front row in the South Indoor Club. It gives a great view and perspective of the entire field.
I agree about higher up seats having their advantages. My brother-in-law once gave us tickets near the 50 yard line, lower level. Quite different from our usual upper level seats. They were right behind the opponent’s bench. So low that I could hear a thundering herd of players but barely see them. And when a great play was developing, the players on the bench jumped up and I could not see it at all. Best seats were end zone upper level at Razorback stadium. I could see line splits and everything. Plus they had prime rib sandwiches right inside. And we won. A conference game.
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Once, a very long time ago, Daddy and I had seats on the 50 yard line, but on the first row behind the Razorback bench. They were AWFUL. It was when the field was astroturf and crowned. You could not see much below the belt of the players on the far side of the field. And as you say, the players blocked most of the view.
The seats that we had before the SIC opened were on the top row of the lower level, and therefore under cover. We were on about the 15 yard line and there was a chain link fence behind us. In bad weather I would take a small tarp and some clamps. I pinned the tarp to the fence and kept the West wind blocked.
Baum…Much like you, my Dad and I had two seats behind Razorback bench from 1973 - 1975. We were on about the 40 yard line row two seat backs. I was a young boy and loved it. Mainly because you had a first hand look at Dickey Morton coming over after breaking a run or Ike Forte pacing in front of us getting ready to go in. Occasionally, Frank B would come over to emphasize a point that he didn’t feel the position coach got across. Scott Bull and Mike Kirkland talking strategy, couldn’t quite hear them but fun none the less.
I prefer seats that are 40-50 rows up, but no higher. I hate that upper deck at Jerry’s world. The top rows of RRS are a bit too high to suit me. If seats are 40-50 rows up, I don’t mind whether there in the corners, EZ, or on the 50. I can usually see everything well enough to suit me. There are advantages & disadvantages to EZ seats, but now that there are huge video boards, the disadvantages of the EZ have largely disappeared.
Yes, there is a point of diminishing returns for me as well. My current seats are on row 45 and that’s perfect - for me.
In the old Dallas Cowboys Stadium (Texas Stadium), I had seats right behind the lower vomitorium in the upper deck (so, no one sitting in front of us) on the 40 yard line and I honestly believe I had 2 of the BEST tickets in the entire stadium. What was funny is that at the time (this was 15-20 years ago) there was another guy in my office with seats on the 15 yard line in the lower deck, and EVERYBODY in the office wanted his tickets for their clients rather than mine…UNTIL they used them and saw how fantastic the view of the action was from my seats. Eventually, they all came to me first.
No - I do NOT have seats in Jerry World. And it is a fantastic stadium (I DO have Cotton Bowl tickets there, on the 40 in the second level…again, perfect!). But I agree with NEA that the upper deck is just TOO high for my taste. If I were up there, I’d be watching the big screen and if you’re going to do that, why not stay home?
BTW, the highest I’ve ever been was to the 1987 A&M game there. Got the from a friend of the father-in-law from an Aggie friend of his who could not go. They were on THE top row of that upper deck. Looked like a bunch of ants playing…and that was in the era before jumbotrons in college venues.
Always my first choice of seating on the East side of the upper deck, especially evening games. Great views of the Ozarks which we obviously lack back home.
We had south end zone seats at WMS for years. It was a great view and like Clay said you could see the holes opening on running plays.
When they first expanded RRS in 1985, I had 50-yard-line seats in the WUD. Loved them. My wife hated going up the ramp and ascending to our seats from the portal, but it was a great place to watch the game.
Expansion #2, I started out with field level seats in the SEZ, under the overhang. I liked being able to see the holes open up, and staying dry was nice (especially the first night in 2001 against Tennessee when there was a weather delay) but it was too low to see plays well at the north end of the field. Where Marty sits would be ideal for that.
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