My Rose Bowl experience

[uodux1212]

Flew down Thursday afternoon... NYE party at the Standard Hotel, pretty fun...

Getting to the RB was a bit of a nightmare, but not too bad. I have friends down there who own a restaurant/catering business, they were on the scene with their employees at 6am setting up the sweetest tailgate ever. Who has a catered tailgate?!? Made to order omelets for breakfast, brats and burgers for lunch... not to mention all the cold beer and cocktails you could drink...

The weather was perfect...

Seemed to me the Ducks fans were way outnumbering the osu fans in the tailgate area/around the stadium, but once inside it was almost a 50/50 split.

We sat 10 people from the section where it changed from UO to OSU fans, there was some interesting banter going back and forth... but nothing too serious..

Sat next to some super awesome Duck fans from the LA area, their daughter went to UO on a volleyball scholly....

Getting into the stadium was a TOTAL NIGHTMARE. From the time we got in line it took a little over an hour to get inside the gate, then another 25-30 minutes to get through the tunnel and to our seats...

The scene after the game was madness... the lines for the shuttles back to parking garage/metro station was over 2 hours long. We ended up walking about 30 minutes before jumping in a cab back to downtown LA, it cost $90, but IMO well worth it, at that point I had had enough of the lines/crowds.

Got some cool gear... it was tough to find though, seemed that all the UO gear was pretty picked over compared to the OSU stuff....

Should have never worn a UO shirt Saturday while bumping around Hollywood and at the airport... LOTS of people asking about the game and if we won or not, I wasnt in the mood to talk about it, but I had to represent...

Lots of the locals were super cool, and seemed genuinely disappointed for us... The hospitality was great.

The whole experience was excellent and Im SUPER glad I went... however I will never go back. The traffic/lines/crowds/expense was just too much for me... I'll watch us play in the RB on TV next year!

GO DUCKS!

[Tray Dub]

Yeah I was impressed with the locals. We had gotten lost at one point and some locals just pulled over, gave us a ride to our car, and then led us to the tram station. Everyone was really really nice.

[duckz]

Flew in Thur. a.m.

scouted the "Duck Out" bar in the hollywood area and decided to pass for later that night.

Spent Thur. on the promenade and at Yankee Doodles, watching Stanford lose. Went to the game Friday in a rented car (a sweet convert. mustang; I chose GOLD for the Duckies). I was irritated with Parson's b/c they advertise that shuttles run at 10 am for $30 to the game --- "but get there early..."

So, I get there early (8:30 am), and for my troubles, they charge $60 to park BEFORE 10am b/c they charge to the Rose Parade. Parked in a local lot for $15 and the guy there said I can take other shuttles. The shuttle lines were very long so I walked (right near Parsons). Some awesome homes line the walk to the stadium.

Setting: very good, weather was awesome, OSU fans were great.

Game: sucked. Our linebackers have dropped way tooooooo many INTs this year. The opening drop of a potential INT could have made a HUGE diff. in the outcome, I doubt Tressle would have let Pryor continue to pass as much as he did with an early pick in their end of the field.
This game was lost by our defense...could not get off the field on numerous 3rd and longs...sounds familiar.
Kicking game (kicker/punter/coverage teams/ Kenjon Barner were great).

Restroom: Port-a-potties.... terrible shape with Loooooooong lines.

After the game, again, the shuttle lines were outrageous. Walked to my car again....feet hurting at this point.

Pasadena: old town was very fun. RB gear for UO at 50% off already that night.

Other fun: Venice/Santa Monica beach walk areas.

Great Food: All India Cafe (Old town Pasadena);
Tico's Taco (Santa Monica ; "The Best in Town")


** I would do it again but now I know what to expect. (ie. had to throw out somoe good food at the entrance b/c did not want to go back out to entry "C" as I was advised AFTER waiting 45 min to get into gate A.

Goooo Duuucks.