On Saturday, Tom and I went to the very first game in the new Gophers stadium, which is really named TCF Bank Stadium, but we are not corporate shills in this blog. It was a lot of fun, because 1) it was not the Metrodome; 2) everything was shiny and new; 3) the Gophers won; and 4) it actually felt like a college football game.
There are some kinks to work out. My favorite memory of the game will always be that the concession stands ran out of a lot of their food around halftime. We went searching for a snack with a little time left in the 1st quarter, stood in a couple of different lines that didn't move, and finally got back to our seats 5 minutes before halftime, having settled on a kiosk with a short line that was selling chips and pop. They somehow got us to part with a few of our limbs, but we were pretty hungry. I also flagged down a guy selling mini donuts, because chips and pop are not a complete dinner. Other people around us were saying that they were out of burgers, hot dogs, pretzels, and ice cream. I guess they weren't expecting 50,000 people to show up or something. One other rumor I've heard that is unconfirmed by us (since we never reached the front of the line) but comes from several sources is that there were no cash registers. I hope they use our mini donut money to purchase a couple of them for future games.
All in all, a really fun night out for us! Oh, and Mariella apparently drank a little bit from a bottle. Yay for her!
Tom standing in front of the stadium. We really like the arched windows.
This was the view we had standing in line at our gate. There were probably a couple hundred people lined up at each gate, and the line stretched around the stadium. It took forever to get inside. Notice the time on the scoreboard says 5:32. We got to our seats at 5:55, just as the Air Force flyover took place.
Another view from the outside
Yet another shot from outside the gate, and yes it did feel like we were in the woods. We had no idea it would be such a journey!
Finally, we made it to our gate. Here is the street side of the big scoreboard.
Look at all the maroon and gold. We had a good view from the 15 yard line. Even if we were almost at the top. The field was a lot closer than it looks in this picture. Tom had taken his binoculars along, but he didn't use them once.
Getting ready for pregame, and a shot of the student section. That last bit did fill in eventually. The student gate line was even longer than ours.
A view of the big scoreboard, and part of the campus in the distance.
Us! Just to prove that we went somewhere without the kids!
Another shot of the really lovely scoreboard
First play on offense
First points scored at the new stadium. A field goal isn't very exciting, but at least the Gophers scored first.
I had planned on taking a picture of the first touchdown celebration. Unfortunately, it didn't appear the Gophers would score a touchdown and I had the camera put away. So, here they are lining up for the point-after. Woo hoo!
Taking a knee at the end of the game
The players celebrating with the fans, and the goal posts coming down. They took the final score down before I got a picture, but it was 20-13. Gophers win! 
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