DKR Stadium review (Texas longhorn Stadium)

[81usaf92]

After going to the game I thought I would give some thoughts and rank my road trips. Knowing @selmaborntidefan was at the game he probably has a very different view on things



I always start with the positives

The pros.

1) Weather wasn’t bad
2) Surprisingly it was very easy to get out of town after the game. Literally took us 30 minutes to get out of Austin. It takes far longer to get out of Tuscaloosa
3) it was deafeningly loud. Very few stadiums are as loud as this place that I have been.
4) their band is cool to listen to and see do tricks. I’m not a big band guy but this was one of the best bands out there.
5) Bevo Avenue is neat. There is alot to do and good stuff to eat there.
6) views were good views
7) their pregame events are pretty cool
8) There is alot of cool stuff to see and do around the stadium. We went to LBJ museum earlier in the trip but there are several museums and events going on during game day that are worth it.

Now on to the bad,,,

1) the Horn fans range from okay to downright horrible. They really aren’t in the same category as Georgia and Florida fans but good god they are bad
2) the stadium is actually a dump with a little added things to make it presentable. When I saw the layout of the stadium and saw that they had 100k seats I was like “there is no way”. Well seating is worse than Neyland and is really made to try to catch aTm’s size more than anything.
3) Parking is atrocious. Austin has it where you are going to walk over overpasses and a bunch of miles to get from your stadium and car.
4) how they sit Away teams. The big XII is really crappy as a whole in this regard. But atleast I was surrounded by Bama fans
5) the amount of trash everywhere. Look on the pregame thread and you’ll see one of my posts on it. It’s bad.
6) Texas entrance. I would’ve thought for someone with their stature that coming out with no pregame video and to “hell’s bells” was kinda lame


Overall I give it a 6.0/ 10. It fell into the just okay experiences. None of this was about the game itself. aTm was far better than Texas in terms of atmosphere, Gameday experience, and stadium/parking.

My personal rankings on road trips excluding Bowl games

1) Kyle Field
2) Tiger Stadium
3) Williams Brice (South Carolina)
4) Neyland
5) Wade Davis (MSU)
6) Faurot ( Mizzou)
7) DKR
8) Ben Hill (Florida)
9) Jordan Hare
10) Vaught Hemingway (Ole Miss)

 

[selmaborntidefan]

[QUOTE="81usaf92]
After going to the game I thought I would give some thoughts and rank my road trips. Knowing @selmaborntidefan was at the game he probably has a very different view on things

I always start with the positives

The pros.

They're not getting much professional football skill for what they're paying........LOL!!!

1) Weather wasn’t bad
Got a tad hot after halftime but given my susceptibility to heat stroke, I was very pleased.

2) Surprisingly it was very easy to get out of town after the game. Literally took us 30 minutes to get out of Austin. It takes far longer to get out of Tuscaloosa

DISAGREE - tell me what you did because my guide has been there previously and we wound up over on Guadulupe and flagging an Uber that cost more than the GNP of Rhode Island.

3) it was deafeningly loud. Very few stadiums are as loud as this place that I have been.

I'll defer to you there. It was loud, but I was near the top of the stadium, it's not as loud up there.

4) their band is cool to listen to and see do tricks. I’m not a big band guy but this was one of the best bands out there.
5) Bevo Avenue is neat. There is alot to do and good stuff to eat there.
6) views were good views
7) their pregame events are pretty cool
8) There is alot of cool stuff to see and do around the stadium. We went to LBJ museum earlier in the trip but there are several museums and events going on during game day that are worth it.

Didn't see the band (getting a fresh cold towel for my head, agree on the other points except something about my opinion of LBJ himself).

Now on to the bad,,,

My hairline?

1) the Horn fans range from okay to downright horrible. They really aren’t in the same category as Georgia and Florida fans but good god they are bad

Generally agree. Not too bad with most interactions, but a number of them are chest pumping on social media today. One guy said he didn't see a single Bama fan afterwards looking anything but concerned - he obviously didn't see me because I never doubted we were going to win.

2) the stadium is actually a dump with a little added things to make it presentable. When I saw the layout of the stadium and saw that they had 100k seats I was like “there is no way”. Well seating is worse than Neyland and is really made to try to catch aTm’s size more than anything.

I think when you have some of those "this stadium was built a long time ago" venues, it's hard to get people to let go and actually give them some good NEW. I've seen high school stadiums in Texas of much higher quality - no, not as many seats but better.

It's like I've said about Fenway except much less so in regards to history. Fenway Park is a MUST SEE for every baseball fan, but the park itself (built in 1912 by the construction firm of Tide-HSV/Gray Tide) is almost like wandering into a brand new built from the ground up 21st century city and someone dropped an eyesore into the middle of it.


3) Parking is atrocious. Austin has it where you are going to walk over overpasses and a bunch of miles to get from your stadium and car.

Which is why we got the Uber and bailed on the strip......

4) how they sit Away teams. The big XII is really crappy as a whole in this regard. But at least I was surrounded by Bama fans

Sadly the biggest jerk - how did this always seem to happen to me - was the just out of college alcoholic next to me at 11 am whose liquid courage didn't inspire him to go sign up for infantry.

5) the amount of trash everywhere. Look on the pregame thread and you’ll see one of my posts on it. It’s bad.

I'll refrain from the kind of comment that will get this thrown onto the NS board but.....ever notice how much pollution they have at Earth Day? That's the point.

6) Texas entrance. I would’ve thought for someone with their stature that coming out with no pregame video and to “hell’s bells” was kinda lame

At least they didn't have the irony of using Alabama's "If You're Gonna Play In Texas, You Gotta Have A Fiddle In the Band", LOL!!

Overall I give it a 6.0/ 10. It fell into the just okay experiences. None of this was about the game itself. aTm was far better than Texas in terms of atmosphere, Gameday experience, and stadium/parking.

I think even they are a bit embarrassed by the STADIUM, but what ya gonna do?

I like that they have retained the old stadium structure, but I agree with pretty much all you said.

 

[81usaf92]

[QUOTE="81usaf92]
After going to the game I thought I would give some thoughts and rank my road trips. Knowing @selmaborntidefan was at the game he probably has a very different view on things



1) the Horn fans range from okay to downright horrible. They really aren’t in the same category as Georgia and Florida fans but good god they are bad

Generally agree. Not too bad with most interactions, but a number of them are chest pumping on social media today. One guy said he didn't see a single Bama fan afterwards looking anything but concerned - he obviously didn't see me because I never doubted we were going to win.

2) the stadium is actually a dump with a little added things to make it presentable. When I saw the layout of the stadium and saw that they had 100k seats I was like “there is no way”. Well seating is worse than Neyland and is really made to try to catch aTm’s size more than anything.

I think when you have some of those "this stadium was built a long time ago" venues, it's hard to get people to let go and actually give them some good NEW. I've seen high school stadiums in Texas of much higher quality - no, not as many seats but better.

It's like I've said about Fenway except much less so in regards to history. Fenway Park is a MUST SEE for every baseball fan, but the park itself (built in 1912 by the construction firm of Tide-HSV/Gray Tide) is almost like wandering into a brand new built from the ground up 21st century city and someone dropped an eyesore into the middle of it.






Overall I give it a 6.0/ 10. It fell into the just okay experiences. None of this was about the game itself. aTm was far better than Texas in terms of atmosphere, Gameday experience, and stadium/parking.

I think even they are a bit embarrassed by the STADIUM, but what ya gonna do?

I like that they have retained the old stadium structure, but I agree with pretty much all you said.

Honestly. I wasnt worried about us after them kicking that field goal at the end. I looked at my dad and said "they gave Bryce too much time". Bryce is like Brady in that if you give him a minute to go and one timeout it really doesnt matter how crappy he has played (which he really didnt) he is a different animal in crunch time. The Horns were utterly stunned.


When Texas has to go to Kyle field they are going to see how "not back" they really are.

 

[TexasBama]

Yesterday was the attendance record for DKR stadium - 105,213.

I haven't been to a game there in 25 years, but I thought it was a so-so venue. It seated maybe 75k then. They've expanded both end zones since I was there.

 

[81usaf92]

Yesterday was the attendance record for DKR stadium - 105,213.

I haven't been to a game there in 25 years, but I thought it was a so-so venue. It seated maybe 75k then. They've expanded both end zones since I was there.

It really felt like an old stadium that really was trying to top out at 85k but once aTm started to expand they went the Tennessee route of artificially expanding it. Literally 1.5 cheeks equals 1 seat for an average person. aTm better prepared for their expansion and did a really good job with it. When Texas fans go to Kyle field in a few years they are going to see what a real stadium looks like… hell the ones that make the trip to Tuscaloosa will see it next year.

 

[selmaborntidefan]

Not that I even sat very much - and yeah, folks were wanting other folks to move down. It's like they think we Americans are as skinny as we were during the Great Depression, so-called because there was no McDonald's.

 

[BamaMoon]

After going to the game I thought I would give some thoughts and rank my road trips. Knowing @selmaborntidefan was at the game he probably has a very different view on things

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1) Kyle Field
2) Tiger Stadium
3) Williams Brice (South Carolina)
4) Neyland
5) Wade Davis (MSU)
6) Faurot ( Mizzou)
7) DKR
8) Ben Hill (Florida)
9) Jordan Hare
10) Vaught Hemingway (Ole Miss)

I've only been to 4 of those 10, which I'll get to in a moment.

As for DKR, I went to two games with UT season ticket holders (before their latest endzone addition). We sat in seats on the home side and had access to the area like our north and south "zones" (not sure what they call it, but it's a huge area inside with abundant food and drink and AC). So I saw the best of DKR along with parking in a deck adjacent to the stadium.

Here's how I'd rate the four of your 10 I've been to:

1. Kyle Field - it's truly the nicest I've ever visited in terms of modernness (outside of Jerry World - which is not a fair comparison since it's a dome and an NFL stadium).
2. Vaught Hemingway - for a small stadium I thought it was pretty nice. Enjoyed the Grove before and after - we got to tailgate with Ole Miss fans in a huge tent.
3. DKR
4. Neyland - it's just a bigger Legion Field with smaller seating space for your butt - but it's worth tolerating to see 100K even if they are all wearing orange.