Aging Bowl needs a facelift

COURTESY SPORTS PUBLICITY OFFICE The Yale Bowl has history, atmosphere—and lots of splintering seats.

So I crawled out of bed at the ungodly hour of 9:16 a.m., held my breath for most of the New Jersey Turnpike, and cringed at every offensive orange sweatshirt I saw as I sat in traffic on that silly two-lane country road leading to the Princeton campus. Even with a Yale victory, this day would be more painful and annoying than I could bear—or so I thought. But upon walking into the new stadium and taking my seat just before kickoff, I quickly realized that this would not be such a bad place to watch the game. The first thing that stuck out was the venue's interesting architecture. But the real test would come when the first whistle blew. After all, it's a stadium, not a museum. Needless to say, I was not disappointed.

The stands are situated so close to the field and are so steep that everyone in the stadium feels right on top of the action. With no obstructed seats, everyone has a good view. Additionally, the stadium's capacity of 27,800 is suitable for the typical crowds at Ivy League football games. With a crowd of over 21,000 last Saturday, Princeton Stadium was almost full. The small size contributed to the noise factor. It felt like there was a big crowd at the game. Not only were the fans more into the action, but I imagine the players enjoyed the atmosphere as well. Princeton Stadium was a great place to watch a football game. That Yale won the 23-21 nail-biter certainly helped.

With this in mind, I began to think about our own football stadium. As The Game approaches, we are all getting caught up in the possibility of the Bulldogs' first Ivy title since 1989. Many of us, however, are dreading the inevitable splinter or two in our precious bottoms. We all know that the seats in the Bowl are not the best. A good sanding and new paint job could do wonders for the Yale Bowl—but this is not the historic stadium's only problem.

Aside from the seats, several aspects of the Bowl make the place less than ideal for fans. For one, there is the distance from the field. The first row of seats must be at least 40 feet from the sidelines, compared with only17 at Princeton. The seats rise at such a gradual pace that the last row is hundreds of feet away. This gradual incline causes sight problems as well. None of the seats are obstructed, but we've all sat behind someone much taller or have been frustrated by people walking in the aisle. Finally, there's the size. Covering 12.5 acres, the stadium's current capacity is 64,269. Unless the conference starts giving out athletic scholarships, Ivy football will never draw the crowds it once did. The days of 70,000 people coming to see a Yale football game are over. Even with a league-high attendance average—this year it was just over 21,000—Yale's stadium always feels empty. This sense of vacancy does not foster a very raucous crowd. As hard as we try, the Bowl will never be Chicago Stadium—or even Princeton Stadium.

Don't get me wrong. I love the Bowl. There's something special about watching a game there. To me, it's the Fenway Park of college football. Walking into the Bowl is a time warp. The crumbling façade and the long portals leading to the stands make it feel like an ancient Roman ampitheater. But at some point, the Bowl will simply have to go the way of Fenway and Palmer.

Since we all know that won't happen anytime soon, let me suggest this to President Levin, GRD '74. As part of Yale's tercentennial celebration, why don't you splurge and spend a couple thousand dollars to sand and paint those seats—or even better, to replace them. What's a few grand when you're already shelling out millions to renovate each residential college? You may have one of those cushy seat covers, but I certainly don't—and why shouldn't I?

For now, though, I'll just make sure I have my butt on ice when I get home from The Game.

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