Well, then there is the war memorials and the police memorials and the lakefront renovation... Just because it's the party line doesn't mean it's untrue. It may not be realistic to buy the 300 million figure some suggest, but 400 million isn't unreasonable, and that still agrees my point.
I agree with Liam about the stadium advertising as pertainting to the Bears, with a but. I understand that you can't do much with the permanent signage and even really with the scoreboard signage. That said, I thought they could have done without the ribbon scoreboard advertising along the sides of the stadium before the game. The ads for Miller Lite (not Bud), Cadillac (not Honda), etc. could easily have just been turned off.
That I agree with. I didn't understand why they showed that. Even if they didn't have MLS/Fire-ready ads yet for it they could have just not used it.
I sat in section 133 (around row 10) with my group of 40 people. It might not be where I will sit in the future, but seemed a reasonable spot for a big group with lots of casual/new folks. With lots of bright lighting the south end looked like it was indoors. Kindof like an arenaball stadium or such. Seats were nice, great sightlines. LOTS of ambient noise and chatter. Some of it was probably the crowd I was with. Maybe some was the overhang just behind us. Rowdy folks behind us (good) and airhorn (less good) combined with everything else made it really hard to hear Section 8. In OSF around 133/134 (NSF) was a great spot as Section 8 faced the west side from the SE corner. Sitting on the east side seemed to work well for 'Who's the Best?' b/c folks would turn to face the (yellow?) seats. Notwithstanding organizational and security difficulties, it seemed a lot of the sound from the south end carried down the field, and maybe up to the top decks and suites. Good for people on the field, less good for 'atmosphere' in the lower bowl. Visually the supporter's sections looked pretty good.
Oh, no question about that, our current position is ideal visually and for tv audio. looked and sounded great on tv. Problem is, Section 8 is not a tv show. if the team and fans in the stadium cannot hear us, what is the point?
You are stretching the numbers a bit, my friend. Here is a quote from a recent article on the stadium: "Soldier Field was a private/public project, with the Bears and the NFL contributing $200 million and the state's Illinois Sports Facilities Authority contributing $406 million in taxpayer-backed bonds." I'm not sure how $200M is "nearly all" of $350M.
update 1) ribbon boards are in place of normal "permanent stadium advertising". Notice SF doesn't have the normal permanent ad signs that most stadia have. Bears have six categories that allow them to advertise on ribbon boards for all events. 2) "Section 8" is expanding to sections 121 and 124. Like 122 and 123, these tickets are only available through Fire office and Gate 2 on game nights. 3) More streamers permitted next game. Every other cup holder in 122 and 123 instead of every third cup holder. 4) One pulpit probably coming soon (not sure about Saturday. Check with Feeley). 5) We asked security not to rush into Section 8 all the time and to treat our fans with respect. slow progress i guess. peter
Thank you Peter, and all the fans who put in that extra effort to make the game a better experience for the rest of us. Your work is greatly appreciated.
Probably around the same time you stop posting the same message every time PW posts here. You already have a GM, it's not our fault he sucks.
Re: update Makes sense. Cool. Boo-yah! Double Boo-yah! Sounds reasonable. Things'll come around slowly. They should hire some of the Giants Stadium ushers. Even though we were asked to keep the prof. down and stay off the seats and out of the aisles, they didn't like send in the calvary and were respectful in their requests. I'll have to double check, but I think the new banner is still on for Saturday. Can I get some volunteers (5 or so) to come relatively early (maybe about 4:30/5p) to help set up? This may becaome a reasonably regular thing, so if you volunteer I may call on you more than this next game. Don't worry, some of the reason for having more than a few help out is so a) we don't run into panic attacks with management like the one Friday b) things just generally go smoother including moving the goods back and forth and c) we get done with plenty of time to tg and enter the stadium in advance of kickoff. PM me if you can help out.
I will be there to help you, Liam but I think we should be there earlier, 4 PM at the latest. Quite honestly, I don't think anybody is going to come and help us. People are so lazy today. Well. if somebody decides to come and help us, I may have a free game ticket for them. Marcin
If I can get my oil changed early morning and don't get hosed on the drive time again this week and thus get there by 4 I'll can help out.
I sat on the west end i think the 300 level. It totally sucked. I do not like the field at all. yes it seems a bit more intimate and was a good ambiance but lets face it most of the 30000 people there were there to see the stadium this time next year it will be a cavernous stadium when theres only 16,500 to see the games. Where i sat you could not see the big screen tv but they had little ones hangin that were too far too really see on either. We couldnt see the fireworks after the game from our seats. couldnt find a restroom nearby only the "family" ones with long lines. The food was way too expensive and horrible. I so not plan to go back to any games as long as they are there even though i live in the city. NAperville was much better. hopefully they build a new one so ican go again. i did hear the seats opposite us were nice but i dont plan on spending all that money again to find out.
Yeah, let's all rush right back to Naperville to risk the player's carreers on a crappy playing surface on a field that's too small with the whole stadium (but for like 3 rows) having crappy bleacher seats with no back support (awesome for sect 8, I know, crappy for most everywhere else) so far off the beaten path that it seems like half the crowd won't make the trip. That sounds like an AWESOME plan. Glad you thought of it. ...I am sorry your SF experience wasn't that good, but the "all that money" you paid to see the game wasn't much more than you would have paid at Naperville and you got a ton more (stadium wise) for it. Security issues with section 8 excepted (because you proclaim you weren't sitting there) you're smokin crack if you think that Naperville was in any way better than SF. Now, I certainly agree that our own stadium would be better, but if you don't think the setup now is a huge step up from where we've been, I have a bridge to sell you.
I totally disagree on this point. I didn't see a single person that only seemed interested in the stadium. and it will feel a lot better overall on a regular basis since the first and second levels hang in like that and only hold a limited number (i think about 20k) I still think there are issues with sound and location as far as the supporters section is concerned but we won't know till we are in it a number of games.
The 300 level on the west side was not open, you must have been on the 200 level. If you didn't like those seats which are under the overhange of the 300 level, buy seats either near the supporter sections or on the 100 level on the sidelines. Personally I love my seats section 108.