Newsgroups: alt.drumcorps
Subject: Stadium sites will and have sucked!
From: cputnam@vax1.umkc.edu
Date: Mon, 17 Aug 1992 03:01:40 GMT
Organization: University of Missouri - Kansas City


What did everyone think of Camp Randall?

I'm from Kansas City and was at the '88 and '89 Championships.

I hated Buffalo, thought it could never get any worse than this.  The stadium
had those stupid benches d the field was old and faded.  The sound system w was
pathetic, couldn't even play the national anthem properly.  They wouldn't let
you in and out of the stadium to return something (like shirts and memorabilia)
to your car.  HORRIBLE!

Then I went to Dallas.  I thought, "Geez, I was wrong.  It does get worse than
Buffalo."  Again, you couldn't leave the stadium.  The weather was hot.  The
seats weren't seats, they were benches. he stadium held sound like a parkining
lot with no buildings around.  PATHETIC!

Then, I went to Madison.  I thought, "I'm not going to Jackson next year.  The
stadiums don't get better, they get worse!!"  The seats were benches, benches
made of wood.  The seats were approximately 12 inches wide (maybe 18, but that
would be pushing it).  I have no idea how they can fit a bunch of bundled up
(it was indeed cold in August, much less in November and December) football
fans (which are known for their eating and drinking) into this stadium.  How
many John Maddens do you know that would fit into an 18 inch wide seat?  Drum
corps fans that pay $25 (a ridiculous price, anyway) should at least be
comfortable while viewing their favorite corps.  I didn't mind the weather,
cold is better than hot (you can always take a blanket with you to keep warm,
except in Madison where you have to buy an extra seat for it to fit).  And that 
sound off the back side.  The most annoying and irritating sound!!  The stadium
held sound even worse than the Cotton Bowl.  The metal benches created a "zip"
sound on any drum hit.  THE WORST YET!!!

Kansas City: The stadium has seats!!  With armrests, so you're not wiping
somebody else's sweat off your body.

The stadium holds sound just perfectly.  Listen to the '88 Spirit of Atlanta.
The sound doesn't just run away, but it doesn't clutter up the sound by staying
too long.  Perfect!

Parking, It has it!!  Madison had none!! 

Access and location.  You can't miss Arrowhead.  Signs all over the place.  And
you can get to it and leave in a relatively short time!!  Madison had horrible
traffic going to and leaving as did Buffalo and Dallas.  We couldn't even find
Camp Randall for a while!  And the Cotton Bowl is hard to find an entrance to. 

The wether is not always good, but it was no where near as hot as Dallas.  nd
I can't wait to see Jackson and Jacksonville!  With Kansas City, you can have
warm or cool weather in August (we just came off a string of a week or two where
the temp never got over 80).

The astroturf at Arrowhead is new and is maintained by the best groundskeeper
in the business (George Toma-he did the '84 Olympics in LA as well as All-Star
games and the like).  As I mentioned, Buffalo barely had lines.  The cotton
Bowl's turf looked 15-20 years old.

Lights: Arrowhead has more than adequate lighting.  All over the place.  
Madison had to add an extra embankment of lights to the backfield.  Horrible
lighting!!

Hotel space:  Kansas City has hosted huge conventions and has no problem with
hotel space (the '76 Democratic convention-when we had almost no hotels by
comparison to today  Madison was out of rooms for a 30 mile radius!!  And,
again, I can't wait to see the lack of rooms at Jackson and Lansing!!

Overall, I felt that KC was by far and away the best place to host the world
championships.  I think the committee to select the sites was made up of a
bunch of people wanting to make the most cash, without looking at the quality
of the stadium.  I have more arguements, so I'll save those for later.

Please tell me how you felt about Camp Randall!!

IRC nick-BlueDevil