With Lively Atmospheres and Cheap Seats, Smaller Football Colleges Offer More Bangs for Your Bucks
By Amy Orndorff
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, October 19, 2007
Football is to fall what baseball is to summer. Only much, much more expensive.
Unless you want to take out a second mortgage, the chances of getting your family into a Redskins game this season are slim to none. Even at the University of Maryland, $45 will get one adult into Saturday's game -- in Section 302. From those seats, you can see the Washington Monument and maybe the players . . . if you squint or bring binoculars.
So skip the $35 parking and the crowded Metro cars and take the family to a game at one of the area's smaller football colleges. Sure, the players might not be destined for the pros, but the draw isn't just the game; it's the marching bands, grassy end zones where you can picnic and the chance for kids to meet the players at halftime.
Tom Costello of Potomac stretches his legs out on a blue-and-gold polka dot blanket and rests his bare feet in the grass at a recent Navy game in Annapolis. He's not a regular Navy fan, but, he says, he is today. His daughters bounce around him barely paying attention to the game happening less than 100 feet in front of them. His in-laws, the Deroecks, visiting from Belgium, watch the game intently.
"This is much more spectacular. Much more energy," says Frank Deroeck, comparing it to European football (soccer here in the States).
Part of the energy comes from the location of their seats. The Deroecks and the Costellos have spread out their blankets on a hill directly behind one end zone. The general admission section ($20 for adults, $10 for kids) is so close to the action that when the players kick a field goal, kids gather around to catch it.
But throughout the game, there is a much greater attraction for kids. It is a hill steep enough to slide down on a collapsed cardboard box. Hearing cheers, a couple of kids pause from their slide to see what the fuss is all about (Duke has scored, leading 36-25) before turning around and continuing their march up the hill. Barefoot, sweaty and grass-stained, they fly down the hill. The braver, older fans surf.
"It's not worth it to pay that much if you know they are not going to sit in the seats," Nancy Salisbury says as she watches her sons Jackson, 6, and Joshua, 4, slide down the hill. Max, 1, waits at the top.
Salisbury and her husband, Kurt, live in Annapolis and have season tickets "because it is so family-friendly." The two older boys watched the game for about a quarter before taking to the hill. Mom and Dad are perfectly happy to watch the game from the top.
If it had been a Navy touchdown, many of the kids would have run right down to the end zone, where midshipmen clad in their dress whites do a push-up for every point scored. The middies are always happy to give high-fives and lead cheers.
The pageantry of the game is part of the draw for non-football fans. Besides the section of midshipmen, there is a brigade march and a host of mini blimps in the tailgate area representing different classes. The stadium is a bit of a memorial itself: The names of all the operations the Navy has been involved in line the sections.
One of the most exciting parts of Navy football is the pregame flyover. "When they have the jets go, it is pretty impressive," Salisbury says. Even Max says "Whoa" as the plane rockets past.
"We just like getting caught up in the spirit of it all," says Kelly White of Burke, who, with her husband and three kids all younger than 10, attends at least one game a season.
For kids, going to smaller games means a chance to get close to the players. Nowhere is this more true than at Gallaudet University in Northeast Washington, where kids get in for $3 and adults for $7. Players at Gallaudet walk through the crowd to get to their locker rooms and will sometimes pause to high-five their young fans.
"It's a very intimate school here," says faculty member Dan Wallace about why he skipped watching ACC games on television to come to a game.
Gallaudet offers a unique way to watch football. The majority of the players are deaf and use sign language to call plays, and they will keep playing until the other team stops, regardless of the whistle. Gallaudet players invented the huddle in the 1890s as a way to prevent the opposition from reading their signals.
There is plenty of clapping and cheering when the Gallaudet players complete a good play, but often hands fly up in the air and silently shake back and forth, sign language for applause.
As for hearing fans? Well, it is a bit quieter than other college games. Though there is no announcer or marching band, fans "enjoy it just like a regular football game," says Gallaudet staff member Ben Baylor. Staff and hearing family members of players often fill the stands and are happy to talk about the team.
The best local marching band in the area can be found at Morgan State University in Baltimore. This isn't your momma's show tunes or "Stars and Stripes Forever." The Morgan State band could teach a lesson about skill and quality to any big-school marching band.
For one, the Morgan State band is louder. Much louder. Taking up an entire section near one end zone, the band fills the stadium with its sweet melodies. Even in the middle of a play (a big no-no in Division I athletics), it will continue to perform. No one seems to mind; the Bears are that good.
Pregame and halftime are when the real show happens. At halftime the band plays on the field, and the crowd sings along to Sean Kingston's "Beautiful Girls" and Rihanna's "Umbrella," among other popular tunes, which can change from game to game. The musicians don't just stand in formation. This band moves. Legs in the air, horns waving from side to side, the members dance in rhythm. Toward the end of halftime, the band refuses to yield the field, and no one -- not even the players waiting on the sidelines -- seems to mind.
"The other reason I came was for the band," says Baltimore's Lance Randall, at the game with his 7-year-old daughter, Lydia. "I figured it was Morgan State, they had to be good."
Randall was unsure about how long Lydia would be interested in the game, so he made sure to sit close to the band. Neither of them was disappointed, and Lydia made it through the entire game.
She had been begging her father to take her to a football game, and Randall knew the Ravens and the Redskins were out of the question. He had never watched a Morgan State game but chose the team for its "more relaxed" atmosphere. He attended a Redskins preseason game and knew that it was no place for his daughter. Plus, he wouldn't feel guilty about spending a ton of money if she wanted to leave after halftime.
Another advantage to attending small college football games is the ability to get in and out quickly for little or no money. At Morgan State, parking across the street in a garage is just $10, and there is ample free street parking. Gallaudet as well as Howard and Catholic universities (which have affordable football games, too) are all accessible by Metro.
So spend the fall weekends outdoors at a local college football game. After all, there is so much more about the game to enjoy, and the Redskins will still be on television in the winter.
MORGAN STATE
Remaining home games:
Oct. 27 at 4: Florida A&M.
Nov. 3 at 4: Norfolk State.
Cost: $10-$20.
Where: Hughes Stadium, Morgan State University, 1700 E. Cold Spring Lane, Baltimore.
For more information: 443-885-3830 or http://www.morganstatebears.com.
If you go: Keep your eye on the drum major -- especially during halftime.
NAVY
Remaining home games:
Saturday at 1: Wake Forest.
Oct. 27 at 1: Delaware.
Nov. 17 at 3:30: Northern Illinois.
Cost: $10-$32.
Where: Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium, on Rowe Boulevard off U.S. 50, Annapolis.
For more information: 800-874-6289 or http://www.navysports.com.
If you go: Get there early to catch the flyover, and bring a blanket to sit on the hill.
GALLAUDET
Remaining home games:
Saturday at 1: Williamson Trade (homecoming).
Nov. 3 at 1: Maritime College.
Cost: $3-$7.
Where: Hotchkiss Field, Gallaudet University, 800 Florida Ave. NE.
For more information: http://www.gallaudetathletics.com.
If you go: Visit the fraternities' and sororities' tables for good food. To sign thank you, touch your chin with your hand and bring it down away from you.
WANT MORE FOOTBALL?Here are other regional football teams worth checking out and their next home games:
Catholic University, Washington
Saturday at 1: Hampden-Sydney
http://www.cuacardinals.com
Hampton University, Hampton, Va.
Saturday at 2: South Carolina State (homecoming)
http://www.hamptonpirates.com
Howard University, Washington
Nov. 3 at 1: South Carolina State
http://www.howard-bison.com
James Madison University, Harrisonburg, Va.
Regular-season games are sold out, but watch the Web site for possible postseason games.
http://www.jmusports.com
Virginia Military Institute, Lexington
Saturday at 1: Gardner-Webb
http://www.vmikeydets.com
College of William and Mary, Williamsburg
Oct. 27 at 1: Massachusetts (homecoming)
http://www.tribeathletics.com
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