Voices from Memphis: 2017 Bowl Edition

[madguy30]

We are still in Memphis in our RV. Freezing cold does not work well for camping. Water pump keeps freezing. Our door has cracked inside due to the cold. I never want a Liberty Bowl game again. Need warm weather. So team needs to win more games!

FWIW I don't know what the temps were like but noticed in many bowl games this year where both teams had to bundle up a bit.

 

[UofMemphis]

I compared Google Earth Street View (2008) with Google Earth 3-D (2017) satellite view of the area and it shows the massive improvements that they've made. The old fairgrounds buildings are all torn down. Those areas are now landscaped parking areas including Tiger Lane tailgating. They made a very nice entrance to the stadium with a huge pedestrian area/mall with a large water fountain feature, benches, landscaping, etc.

A look at the area with 3-D Buildings turned on gives a good feel for what it's like now. The City is really upping their game as far as upgrading their facilities. Seems as though their new Mayor is leading the charge as far as re-development goes. View attachment 52732

A lot of us Tigers fans wish they would take the green space to the Left of the coliseum and make it a nice RV park to serve the Liberty Bowl games and the Cooper-Young area.

 

[Spanky]

Lets settle this attendance thing once and for all.

 

[aauummm]

Lets settle this attendance thing once and for all.
View attachment 52737

Hey Spanky it's like our season record, it was 9-4. KSt didn't beat us. Likewise we won the attendance at the bowl game.

 

[aauummm]

one example is the big hunk of blue front and center in the Iowa State section...that's 1,100 AutoZone corporate employees all dressed in blue...

and remember, 40% of a 58,000 seat stadium is 23,000 ISU fans...that's crazy good numbers.

I think that 500 of those AutoZone employees are from my local AutoZone store here in Altoona Iowa and they are all Cyclone fans. You did notice that AutoZone's corporate colors are red and gold. (Just jokin' with ya)

 

[isufbcurt]

We ate at Rendezvous and that was the best BBQ we have ever had. Our server was great so that made it that much better.

I had Rendezvous last time we were there. It was good but man the brisket at One and Only BBQ was amazing.

 

[MNCYWX]

I don't get it...between Tiger Lane, great sight lines, Ghost River beer and Coletta's pizza sold in the stadium...what's not to like? esp with the massive video board and all the new chairback seats.

I've always thought the Liberty Bowl to be a nice college football stadium.

I've visited VHS in Oxford MS, Neyland Stadium in Knoxville, Legion Field in Birmingham, Ladd-Peebles Stadium in Mobile, Arky State's stadium, MM Roberts stadium at USM.

we like that there is plenty of green space to tailgate.

Narrow concourses and small concession/restrooms. Don't think it can efficiently accommodate a sold-out crowd, like what was there on Saturday. Other than that, I didn't mind the stadium.

Great area to tailgate in, much like Jack Trice. But my God, where are the flipping porta-pottys. I took a video of around 75 people waiting in line for the only five in the grass lot next to that condemned dome at 9am (Purple lot I think). That's just piss poor planning. (Pun Intended) Pathetic, really.

There were people relieving themselves between cars....

Now trash cans or bags provided either.

And leaving? Thank God, I was right at the entrance of the lot. Still took 30 minutes to get out. Felt bad for those way back in there. That was atrocious.

 

[UofMemphis]

^ and I'll be the first to admit the normal Memphis game is like 37-43k depending on who we're playing, the weather, and if it's a week day game.

typical game:

 

[chadm]

The lots for public parking were great. Need to figure out entrance and exit for a sold out game. It is sad I had to stand in my truck bed to took for a porta-potty for my wife which was across a car filled road and then another 200 yards past that.

 

[UofMemphis]

I wonder if the UofM rents our own port-a-potty's for our 6-7 games per season because we normally have plenty...plus the public restrooms in the buildings circled.

 

[MNCYWX]

I've been to a lot of Tiger games at the Liberty Bowl in my 32 years...here's the view from my seat and I'll call it 60/40 Memphis...you guys traveled very well though and beat my expectations.

one example is the big hunk of blue front and center in the Iowa State section...that's 1,100 AutoZone corporate employees all dressed in blue...

and remember, 40% of a 58,000 seat stadium is 23,000 ISU fans...that's crazy good numbers.

Also... I made it in your picture!

 

[CyArob]

Biggest issue with the whole trip was the Iowa State bugle/turd logos on the ISU flags lining the outer edge of the stadium.

Nobody likes it JP!

 

[CYme]

Have to give props to the guy in our section that kept yelling "give me a dilly..... give me another dilly........ what's that spell?"

Also, the LB parking crew members kept trash talking us, haha. The most memorable: "y'all know that you wasted your money and 10 hours of driving to watch y'all get beat up on".

Section 108, row 68ish, I was in 65. Good times, not sure if he was super wasted or just having fun.

 

[Macloney]

I thought the stadium was 52% Memphis and 48% ISU. There were more Memphis fans on the ISU side than ISU fans on the Memphis side which is how I came up with my guess.

I think it was pretty awesome the way ISU fans turned out and the atmosphere was great with both crowds cheering and into the close game.

I thought the tailgating area was set up pretty well. Big areas for people to gather which was great. Only bad part about the lots were to porta potty's. Not nearly enough!

On TV it really looked more like a 53% to 47% split.

 

[jsb]

That looks closer to 50/50 on color, but I don’t think it’s safe to assume all non-red pixels are Memphis fans, plus the some of the seating is blue. That was a purple hue on the Memphis side.

Why would you assume that all non red pixels are Memphis fans. In my group, we had a blue coat, 2 black coats, 1 red and white and one red. We all cheered for Iowa State.

 

[FinalFourCy]

Why would you assume that all non red pixels are Memphis fans. In my group, we had a blue coat, 2 black coats, 1 red and white and one red. We all cheered for Iowa State.

Exactly.

 

[jsb]

Just got back from Memphis. It was a great trip! I know the location was not ideal for some people, but it is awfully fun to have so many Iowa State fans in one fairly small location. That wouldn't happen in a bigger city or a place like Orlando. And it might sound crazy, but it gives me goosebumps to think about how many fans came down to the game. I couldn't believe we filled up the baseball stadium on Friday. I couldn't believe that we had probably at least 45% of the fans against a team from the same town. The Memphis fans we came across were all very nice, but they all seemed to think that they wouldn't have any problem beating us. That makes it all the more sweet. I agree that the stadium leaves a lot to be desired (and agree that it made me appreciate Jack Trice even more). I didn't have to wait in line for the bathroom, but the bathroom was a dump and the concourse just looks dreary and old. We had good seats and I am guessing that the views are good from most seats, but the leg room is terrible. The video board is not super clear and the sound system was terrible.

At breakfast this morning, the owner of the Irish bar on Beale, stopped my parents and told them how much they enjoyed the Iowa State fans. A security guard at the Peabody this morning said he really enjoyed the fans and the team. We enjoyed Central BBQ and enjoyed Rendezvous again (I thought the half chicken was really, really great). I didn't realize that the Civil Rights Museum was new...last time we went when it was just an MLK museum. The new one is really well done and a great place to visit. I was surprised at how many Iowa State fans were still in town on Sunday.

I'm glad that I spent the money to see this team play one last time. It was a great football season and I'm thrilled that they went out with the win they deserved (although all Saturday night, I laughed when I thought about what would have happened if the non-fumble would have cost us the game or the PI, there probably would have been a riot on Beale!).

 

[JP4CY]

Had Rendevous for lunch on Friday. The ribs were not good. Very tough and chewy. Not sure if I got a bad batch or what but the ribs I had at BB King's Thursday night put Rendevous' to shame.

Also had the ribs at BB’s Thursday night. I’d give them a B. They had some smoke, and were tender, maybe too moist like they were kept in a steamer. Could tell they were finished on the grill.
All in all though, for what I expected to be a giant tourist trap, we hung out for a few hours and loved the music and the food (that was solid) was just a bonus.

 

[CycloneBax]

I have to disagree. I took pictures 360 degrees around the stadium. That one picture that I posted was an example only. I have all of the rest of the pictures (and video) that I can post but it'll probably overload the forums web server.

I was sitting in the ISU side in section 105 row 41 and that area was NOT allocated to ISU athletics. It was a vast majority ISU fans. Again I have the pictures. I specifically took the pictures and video as proof because I knew that someone would try to downplay our attendance.

Comparing the before and after pictures that you posted they don't tell the whole story. There is a lot of red in the before picture that isn't there in the after picture. Cyclones might have been cold and left in the after picture.

You also shouldn't count by color in the stadium, except that red is ISU for sure. My family was part of the problem because we had warm clothes on that were black or dark green.

 

[cycloner29]

Just good folks so far.

Talked to the owner's son at Gibson's Donuts. Great guy and really helpful with an idea to upgrade my tailgate. Instead of donut breakfast sandwiches with a donut sliced in half, he suggested getting unfilled Bismarks and push the sausage patties and cheese slices into it. Fantastic.

And the owner of Cozy Corner was as nice as could be.

Locals don't seem to know much about our team, but are very confident about their team. I'm going to start asking them if they even know that we beat Oklahoma and TCU (not even letting TCU score an offensive point).

Nice to meet you at Gibson's on Saturday morning. My son had 6 donuts and my other 5. Sorry we didn't make it over to try out your Bismarks as we ran into some tequila....