Wednesday, September 23, 2015

Rutgers Vs PSU Concessions




September 19th the Penn State Football team played the Rutgers Scarlet Knights.  This contest had teased out a lot of sentiments from both sides of the Field.  There were rumors of added police and other precautions for this game, due to a rivalry that while not long standing is still intense, Rutgers is from New Jersey and many a joke was passed around about the crime associated with the team.  I heard someone exclaiming we mine as well be playing the State Penitentiary today. Also, a stripe out.... it seemed an ironic thing to be held when we were playing a team that had six players arrested.  This game promised to be a good one especially when it seemed PSU had a good chance of winning and I had a free ticket in.  There was a catch though, my ticket was not to the game, it was to be a worker at a concession stand... at least I was there.

For the NROTC program, being a freshman, I am required to work two home football games at the concession stand to help raise money for the program.  The Rutgers game would be my second weekend of working concession, so I would be done in till next year. 

For the 8:00pm game I was required to arrive at the Wagner building (right by the IM building) by 3:30pm when our group of workers would be heading to the concession stand.  When we were all gathered we walked over to Beaver stadium to the employee entrance, there I encountered a problem I had left my student ID in my room.  I live in Atherton which is a solid thirty-minute walk from Beaver stadium, but I had to do it.  I ran to Atherton and since I did not have my ID had to wait for someone to open the door.  It was amazing to me how I waited for like 10-15 minutes and nobody came out of the door, everyone must have been out tailgating.  I finally got inside, grabbed my ID and ran back to Beaver stadium. 

I had not missed much it was about 4:30pm when I got to our concession stand 270 (NROTC always works this stand).  Not much was happening everyone was just standing around and a few people were starting to cook some food.  Then somehow I was tasked with the job of making pretzels.  Honestly it is the chilliest job at the concession stand, which entailed a lot of sitting around.  


Once I had stocked the front with pretzels I had some free time to just sit out in Beaver stadium and watch the teams warm-up.  It is one of the coolest things looking out over the vast empty stadium.  What is even cooler was the stripe out.  



Once the stadium started to fill it was time for me to work, since I was in charge of pretzels I was also tasked with helping with the drink fountain and fetching ICE.  It was an intense period from about 8:30-11:30pm as there were 100,000 plus people in attendance.  The time flew right by; we sold out and closed up before the game was over.  So I was able to catch a solid bit of the last quarter.  Which was a nice plus of working concession. 

A PSU football game is something all college student should enjoy, of course it is not something that would be a hidden gem of the area it is the gem of the area.  This was my weekend and if anyone has not gone I strongly suggest going.  I have been to many a game and they are always a joy. 

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5 comments:

  1. Brooke Cichocki - Technology-Assisted Music Learning ReflectionsSeptember 25, 2015 at 6:24 AM

    This is an interesting perspective. Being in Blue Band, I also watch the games from an unconventional angle. Even though you did not get to watch the entire game, it sounds as though you made the most of your experience at Beaver Stadium. Hopefully next time, you'll be able to watch the whole game! I really enjoyed your post, but just make sure to proofread before posting to limit the number of grammatical errors.

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  2. UnknownSeptember 25, 2015 at 6:26 AM

    Your blog was very clear, and you did well to create a lucid narrative of your day. Like Brooke mentioned, beware of grammatical errors. Besides that, the post was easy to read and engaging.

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  3. UnknownSeptember 25, 2015 at 6:38 AM

    I enjoyed the different perspective you brought to the table in your post. Being able to see an event or location from an unconventional angle can surely be a hidden gem, even if 100,000+ people are also in attendance.

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  4. UnknownSeptember 25, 2015 at 6:43 AM

    That game was truly a great one. It really sucks that you had to miss any of it while working the concession stand. However, it sounds like you had a great experience to make up for it. Although running back to Atherton was probably horrible, actually working in concessions was probably an eye opener. It shows how difficult it can be to run concessions during a game.

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  5. Laura GlatzerSeptember 25, 2015 at 3:55 PM

    This was an interesting "behind the scenes" look at the football games that are a big part of what Penn State is. It was interesting seeing how you got to be at the game and work and watch it!

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