Some random thoughts from JAX

[Courtsensetwo]

Back and finally had a chance to watch the recording. Random thoughts, many have been touched on already.

Weather was perfect, IU Tours did a good job with the warm up event, water taxi's, etc were good. Warm up was at a nice brewery venue right on the river across from the stadium...casual buffet food, plenty of open bars, cheerleaders, band etc. Met Dr. McRobbie for the first time.

Stadium is just ok by NFL standards but those video boards are badass; just as clear as IU's but wider. I really like the way TaxSlayer handled the seating. They let the schools have good seats and didn't cram them down from mid-endzone and around the corner as they do in so many bowls. Antwaan was there as well as several other former players.

IU had a great crowd there, definitely outnumbered by UT but still 20K easily. That nasty orange glows under the lights and they all sing that stupid song after every good play. Gator Bowl volunteers are divided into teams and we talked to the Fl State team at the Hyatt. They were very complimentary of the IU fans. "Y'all are so nice...glad we got to work your venues" and "we knew UT would turn out but had no idea y'all would bring this many".

The UT fans we interacted with at the game and hotel/restaurants were all delightful and super complimentary of the IU turnout and the quality of the team. Most of these folks were boomer age and in nicer places. The UT contingent of 25-40 year old males was pretty rough though.

The game has been covered here...what a heartbreak. That OSK was executed perfectly and I like that kick where the center of the line follows the ball rather than kicking to the side hoping for a jump ball off the second bounce. No excuse for not being prepared. Officiating was pretty even, I only dislike the PI call late. IU playing short handed played solid D in the first half and ok on O. Owned the third quarter and then again in what I thought was a coaching error...played "not to lose" in the last seven minutes giving up big chunks rather than sticking with what they had done successfully all game.

Bitter taste from that but a good event, we will go again next year assuming it is not Detroit or Pinstripe.

 

[Walt542]

Good synopsis. We also found the TN fans around the hotel and restaurants to be nice and very complementary before and after the game.

On a side note, I play guitar. I used to play that song Rocky Top but don’t think I’ll ever be able to do it again without thinking about that stupid yell in the middle of it.

 

[abraxis]

Back and finally had a chance to watch the recording. Random thoughts, many have been touched on already.

Weather was perfect, IU Tours did a good job with the warm up event, water taxi's, etc were good. Warm up was at a nice brewery venue right on the river across from the stadium...casual buffet food, plenty of open bars, cheerleaders, band etc. Met Dr. McRobbie for the first time.

Stadium is just ok by NFL standards but those video boards are badass; just as clear as IU's but wider. I really like the way TaxSlayer handled the seating. They let the schools have good seats and didn't cram them down from mid-endzone and around the corner as they do in so many bowls. Antwaan was there as well as several other former players.

IU had a great crowd there, definitely outnumbered by UT but still 20K easily. That nasty orange glows under the lights and they all sing that stupid song after every good play. Gator Bowl volunteers are divided into teams and we talked to the Fl State team at the Hyatt. They were very complimentary of the IU fans. "Y'all are so nice...glad we got to work your venues" and "we knew UT would turn out but had no idea y'all would bring this many".

The UT fans we interacted with at the game and hotel/restaurants were all delightful and super complimentary of the IU turnout and the quality of the team. Most of these folks were boomer age and in nicer places. The UT contingent of 25-40 year old males was pretty rough though.

The game has been covered here...what a heartbreak. That OSK was executed perfectly and I like that kick where the center of the line follows the ball rather than kicking to the side hoping for a jump ball off the second bounce. No excuse for not being prepared. Officiating was pretty even, I only dislike the PI call late. IU playing short handed played solid D in the first half and ok on O. Owned the third quarter and then again in what I thought was a coaching error...played "not to lose" in the last seven minutes giving up big chunks rather than sticking with what they had done successfully all game.

Bitter taste from that but a good event, we will go again next year assuming it is not Detroit or Pinstripe.

Playing that softer, “don’t give up the big quick one” prevent defense shouldn’t have mattered if we had gotten the ball back after the ensuing kickoff. That particular play will live in infamy in the annals of IU football bowl history. It resulted from the kind of mental gaff that often get’s people fired from their jobs. Fortunately, no one got hurt here, but for our Hoosier pride. Everyone lives to see another day, hopefully with a bowl victory, some way.

 

[Courtsensetwo]

Good synopsis. We also found the TN fans around the hotel and restaurants to be nice and very complementary before and after the game.

On a side note, I play guitar. I used to play that song Rocky Top but don’t think I’ll ever be able to do it again without thinking about that stupid yell in the middle of it.

The song is about longing for a place where bestiality and murdering Federal Agents is a thing.

 

[IU Fan 1989]

I liked Jax. But the stadium food and beer service was terrible. I was in 200 level. Jags must have very small crowds. The scoreboards were nice but never had the correct down and distance much of the game? The game stats were never shown. The stadium announcer was watching a different game.

 

[Bowlmania]

I liked Jax. But the stadium food and beer service was terrible. I was in 200 level. Jags must have very small crowds. The scoreboards were nice but never had the correct down and distance much of the game? The game stats were never shown. The stadium announcer was watching a different game.

I was also on the 200 level. The concession stands were out of some food items by the second quarter. One of the women working the concessions told us this crowd was larger than a typical Jags home game.

I liked the stadium itself, though. And they handled security and barcode scanning very efficiently at the gates. We entered without delay about thirty minutes before kick. Friendly employees as well. And, finally, the weather couldn't have been more perfect. It was a great night to be outside watching a college football game.

 

[iu2win]

I sat in 240. We entered the stadium 45 minutes before kickoff and the corridor was blocked by guests in line for concessions. We had to fight our way through to get to our seats. Concessions were not prepared for the crowd size. The video boards are awesome but very disappointed with all of the commercialization; stats for the game were rarely shown at all, only down/distance during the game. I live in Florida and when compared to Raymond James Stadium, JAX comes up far short. Of course neither of those can touch the quality of Lucas Oil Stadium. The terrific weather, size of the IU crowd, and great game made up for all of the shortfalls of the stadium. Hope to see IU playing down here again; let's make it Tampa or Orlando next year IU.

 

[Courtsensetwo]

There was a full cocktail bar behind us and then the general mezzanine through doors behind that with lots of no wait stands. Sounds like they didn't plan well for the deck. that sucks.