Purdue game entrance

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BilldGopher said:
Also saw a woman being told she could not bring in her purse...not a happy camper...
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I've made the walk back to the parking ramp a few times at the X to bring my wife's purse back. Always seem to forget. Aside from Target Field that's pretty much the policy everywhere now.
 

Ski U Master said:
I got to the game at around 10:30 and got in easy, not even a 5 minute wait. No lines for bathrooms or food at that time either and you can relax and watch the band’s pregame show.
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Ditto - went in closer to 10:45. took maybe 5 minutes to get inside.
 

Guy in front of me forgot to leave his pocketknife in the vehicle. Got in no problem; didn't set off any alarm.
 

Word said:
I never take my keys or phone out and pass right through. Never have set off an alarm.
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And this is part of the problem...all gates and staff need to be on the same page. If you don't need to take them out then by all means tell people they don't need to take them out. I've seen it both ways there now - times where I've walked right through, and other times where I walked through and was told to take my phone out and go back through again. I think some people nowadays are so accustomed to taking everything out and laying them on the table that they assume they're supposed to.
 


One benefit of bag is to put everything in it...keys, wallet, phone...for that brief moment. Tip only useful though if you have a bag in the first place....
 

FredCoxRocks said:
People who say “well, I just get there earlier” when they hear other people complain how long the lines were:

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But all joking aside, yes, it was a shitshow. We left the Ski-U-Mah lot at 10:30 and made a quick stop at the mini-biff. We knew we would miss the opening kickoff, and we were okay with that (we were having such a fun time in tailgating), but we actually missed the first 6 minutes of the game (which we all know in football-game time is like, two hours or something).
Unfortunately for us, most of the tailgaters over in that area did pretty much the same thing and there was a big rush right around 10:40ish that sent the Gate C line all the way back to the street and beyond…and this was the “No Bag Line”. The line was not moving at all, and there were plenty of line-cutters, which didn’t help. As we got closer it was frustrating to look up into the tunnel and see only one person head up the steps every 5-10 seconds or so.
I just wish they would let people show their phones and keys as they walk through rather than put them on the table. Once people get through they panic and think someone is going to steal their stuff from the table and there is pile-up of people running around trying to get everything back. Saw lots of Staff just standing around doing nothing. And seriously, I think you could have just walked right past a scanner and gotten in for free.
It was really odd, people from our group left literally 5 minutes before we did and got in to see the opening kickoff. Aside from the detector issue, I don’t really know what the problem was but it is something they need to figure out; it’s quite obvious they can’t handle a big rush.
I’ve got two more games that I’ll be attending this year and I will leave for the stadium earlier, especially the Iowa game…I think that one will be insane.
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Hmm...I went in that gate at about the same time, through the no bag lines. No issues other than three or four students slowing up the line trying to sneak in beers. Took maybe 5 minutes. There were literally a dozen or more ticket scanners there and people going up the stairs in groups.
 

BilldGopher said:
Also saw a woman being told she could not bring in her purse...not a happy camper...
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The clutch purse only policy has been in place as long as the clear bag has been in place, so years. U's website has a whole section with pictures. Almost every sports venue has these policies.
 

PMWinSTP said:
Hmm...I went in that gate at about the same time, through the no bag lines. No issues other than three or four students slowing up the line trying to sneak in beers. Took maybe 5 minutes. There were literally a dozen or more ticket scanners there and people going up the stairs in groups.
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Common sense risk assessment would be a full body cavity search for them...:p
 



PMWinSTP said:
Hmm...I went in that gate at about the same time, through the no bag lines. No issues other than three or four students slowing up the line trying to sneak in beers. Took maybe 5 minutes. There were literally a dozen or more ticket scanners there and people going up the stairs in groups.
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I've heard the same story from others in our group. I don't get it. It's just bizarre. But there we were...standing and waiting. There are hundreds of others that could back me up on this.
 

FredCoxRocks said:
I've heard the same story from others in our group. I don't get it. It's just bizarre. But there we were...standing and waiting. There are hundreds of others that could back me up on this.
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I tailgate right by that entrance and can see B as well. My guess is you were later than 10:45. Always seems to be a rush of fans really close to kickoff trying to get in...late tailgaters and late comers in general.
 

PMWinSTP said:
I tailgate right by that entrance and can see B as well. My guess is you were later than 10:45. Always seems to be a rush of fans really close to kickoff trying to get in...late tailgaters and late comers in general.
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Could be. It's funny how just a few minutes can make a big difference.
 

ottertail said:
Guy in front of me forgot to leave his pocketknife in the vehicle. Got in no problem; didn't set off any alarm.
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I bring my swiss army knife (really small kind) to every game. Only place I've had to surrender it was at a Timberwolves game and the airport (oops).
 





PMWinSTP said:
The clutch purse only policy has been in place as long as the clear bag has been in place, so years. U's website has a whole section with pictures. Almost every sports venue has these policies.
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Yep, yet 2 drunk old biddies were arguing with security about their fanny pack. I waited for a bit then my wife and I walked around them and through the metal detector and up the stairs. This was at gate B.
 


W0613615 said:
10:30?

Why not make it 10:00? Maybe 9:30?

It should not take more than 20 minutes to get into the stadium. As someone stated earlier,.they got there at 10:40 and missed opening kick.... This wasn't even a sell out game and that line was still backed up at 11:20?

I can honestly say today it felt worse than I've ever seen it. I've been to those Wisconsin games, the Iowa games, the 2019 games, and today seemed ridiculous.

I'm just saying, taking a non diehard gopher fan to the game for the first time it's the little things like this that really buzz kills the game day experience.
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I got in line at 10:45 and it took maybe 5 minutes for me to get in. Gate C.
 

Word said:
I bring my swiss army knife (really small kind) to every game. Only place I've had to surrender it was at a Timberwolves game and the airport (oops).
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My big binoculars are old and metal and heavy .... don't set anything off.
 


We always go in gate D. It is a frustrating guessing game as to know what to expect heading into the stadium. I have found it impossible to plan for. We tailgate every game and like clockwork we breakdown our tailgate and head to the stadium a half hour before kickoff. If it is a big game and larger attendance predicted, we’ll move our timetable 10 minutes to accommodate. Generally the idea is to be in our seats in time for player entrance.

With that in mind, we have reached our seats in time for ENTIRE band pregame, and we have also reached our seats two full series into the game, and everything in between. Ridiculous, and utterly impossible to plan for.

For the most recent game, we arrived early but still missed player entry. We were just getting to our seats when it kicked off.

For an interesting sidelight, my wife and friend went to the “bag line” while my buddy and I stayed in the supposedly faster “no bag” line. The gals’ bag line moved much faster and they had to wait a full 10 minutes between security and ticket scanning, for us to emerge from the “no bag” line. They had a worker hassle them with the old “move along” command a couple times. My wife had to snap back that they were waiting for me (and the tickets) to get through the “faster” line.

Long story short: it is impossible to plan for and every game seems to be different. Very frustrating.
 



I would like to point out that for the vast majority of sporting events there is a few minutes of buffer time before the game actually starts as the TV providers like to get in a short pregame, a commercial. For example Twins/Wild game never start at 7:00 PM, it's usually 7:10 PM.

The early window of NCAA football games start promptly at 11:00 AM (or as I heard on the PA walking to a tailgate that Opening Kick was 11:01 AM) so they can get over before the late afternoon games.

My experience, I have got to various gates 25-30 minutes before the actual kickoff for all 4 games this year. 3 of the 4, I got in the door in less than 10 minutes. W Illinois took closer to 25 minutes, but that game there was an issue with the App provider and impacted several other games as well.

Lesson of that game, when in doubt get there a few minutes early. If it's easy to get through, enjoy the Marching Band.
 

It wasn't that long ago that the morning starts were advertised as 11:10 AM.

As for the gates, I was in the no-bag line for Gate E. The line barely moved from 1045 until 11. About that time, the line started moving very fast, almost as if a dam had broken. What order went out at 11 that changed how the scanners were moving people through the magnetometers?

My guess is that until then, the instructions were to give everyone the full TSA treatment (everything out, belts off, wanding everyone even after going through the magnetometer, sending people back through). After that, it was just "Phones out and hold them over your head".
 


WoodburyTim said:
I get that there are little tricks to getting in quicker or people should plan ahead and go in earlier, but none of that explains why the issue is way worse here than other stadiums, both other college venues, but also pro sports.
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I've had the same amuont of waiting at Vikings games, Twolves games, and highy attended Twins games. Inside in 5 minutes if I get there 15-20 minutes before the start, longer wait if at gametime.
 

It seems like Gopher football gets compared to other big ten schools when we talk about ticket prices, stadium capacity, etc... It also seems like one of the most common reasons given for the lack of interest the team gets in this town is because of all the other pro sport options. It's like we find whatever excuse we can to have sub-par expectations for the program and the experience surrounding it.

The buddy I brought to the game Saturday has season tickets and he thought the line to get into Huntington was a joke compared to what he is used to at US bank stadium. I also think this has gotten worse years over years and I'm sure we can come up with many excuses why. I don't think it's unreasonable to get to the game at 10:45 and be in your seat by 11:15. This was not the case Saturday and I think it's unfortunate because I can see it leaving enough of a sour taste in the mouth of those 'fair-weather' fans.
 

W0613615 said:
It seems like Gopher football gets compared to other big ten schools when we talk about ticket prices, stadium capacity, etc... It also seems like one of the most common reasons given for the lack of interest the team gets in this town is because of all the other pro sport options. It's like we find whatever excuse we can to have sub-par expectations for the program and the experience surrounding it.

The buddy I brought to the game Saturday has season tickets and he thought the line to get into Huntington was a joke compared to what he is used to at US bank stadium. I also think this has gotten worse years over years and I'm sure we can come up with many excuses why. I don't think it's unreasonable to get to the game at 10:45 and be in your seat by 11:15. This was not the case Saturday and I think it's unfortunate because I can see it leaving enough of a sour taste in the mouth of those 'fair-weather' fans.
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Clearly some gates were worse than others. As I mentioned before, I went in Gate C and at around 10:45 and it took five minutes...would have been less had I not had a couple students trying to sneak in beers. That people won't just walk to another gate baffles me. I tailgate right between C and B. Usually go in either one, but one game they had bigger lines so I walked around to A and was inside in probably 5-7 minutes tops.
 


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