Winter Classic at The Big House! Who's going?

[tarmogoyf 2]

Anyone else going to be heading to The Big House on the 1st for the big game? Accuweather is saying 22* and snow. Should be a blast!

[JR Boucicaut 3801]

I'll be in Section 35.

PM me if anyone's going.

[IPv6Freely 2092]

I wish I was! This is amazing. What a game, too.

[tarmogoyf 2]

Here were my seats:

Literally one of the best experiences of my life. Could see the whole game perfectly, and while the cold made my bones freeze, I would not have traded it for the world.

Also, a very odd experience. The group of 4 I was with ended up literally right next to one of my close buddies. I'm not sure what the odds of that are, but it made the experience even better.

[JR Boucicaut 3801]

I liked mine. I always sit on the ends at hockey games.

It was just a crazy time. You'd buy a beer and :30 later it's slush. I was pretty bundled up but my extremities were really bad. I shoved some hand warmers in my toes and that helped out a little bit. During the 2nd period the fans next to me left - they were older and just couldn't deal anymore. But what happened there was that I lost some insulation on my right side, and my right leg started to spasm.

It was a total nightmare getting out though. I was stuck on Main St for an hour; I parked 2 blocks from the Stadium (thanks, Warrior!) which was awesome, so I was already in my car while most fans were still walking to theirs. Anyway, I ended up taking side streets, cutting through the Michigan campus, ending up on 23, then getting on M-14 (the highway that goes to Ann Arbor) and going BACK towards AA, then north on 23 and escaped all of the Canadians trying to get home. Took me 3 hours. I knew people who lived closer that took them 8 to get home.

It was worth going to, but I dunno if I can do another one under those conditions. The next day, I felt like I actually skated in it; everything hurt. I may reconsider it next year if the rumors are true.

[tarmogoyf 2]

I hear you on the cold. We took the shuttle from Briarwood mall, took us an hour to get back to the mall after the game, and 2 hours to get out of the lot.

What are the rumors for next year?

[JR Boucicaut 3801]

...that it may be the first neutral site WC, at Camden Yards in Baltimore.

[TeamHonda401 54]

Beautiful venue for a game.

[JR Boucicaut 3801]

Beautiful venue for a game.

Absolutely.

It's a rumor, of course, but Nats Park is in a bad spot, RFK is ugly, and FedEx Field may not be available.

[Chadd 916]

...that it may be the first neutral site WC, at Camden Yards in Baltimore.

That would be interesting, Philly and Washington? Not much of a drive for either fanbase.

[Stewie 721]

I was actually pretty close to JR in section 31. was pretty neat being surrounded by Toronto fans, but without any huge animosity as everyone was freezing cold and using eachother for warmth.

I would definitely do the outdoor game thing again, but not at the Big House, way too much of a chore to get up and down seats etc, at one point i used the rest room and missed 12 minutes of game time. My time the day before at comerica for the alumni game was more pleasant, id go there again if they had one there. Much more convenient of a location, I could park at a casino.

Took the shuttle too and from the game, parking at briarwood. made it to the game 30 mins early, planned to be there 1.5 hours early to check out some of the festival stuff outside. 3 hours to get "home" (had to stop to cat sit at a house in Dearborn) 1 hour in the bus shuttle back, 1 hour in the Briarwood parking lot, and one hour driving home because we were diverted past state street and had to take a back route.

[lukejameslarson 5]

I read something that the Nationals owner is part of the ownership group of the Capitals, and that he would be unlikely to let the game take place at Camden Yards. More likely that it will be at Nationals Park.

I'm hoping though, that the opponent is the Lightning. Flyers have been in two WCs already. Get Stamkos on the big stage.

[Stewie 721]

I read something that the Nationals owner is part of the ownership group of the Capitals, and that he would be unlikely to let the game take place at Camden Yards. More likely that it will be at Nationals Park.

I'm hoping though, that the opponent is the Lightning. Flyers have been in two WCs already. Get Stamkos on the big stage.

That, and the Flyers have been terrible ratings draws in both their WC's comparatively.

[JR Boucicaut 3801]

I was actually pretty close to JR in section 31. was pretty neat being surrounded by Toronto fans, but without any huge animosity as everyone was freezing cold and using eachother for warmth.

Took the shuttle too and from the game, parking at briarwood. made it to the game 30 mins early, planned to be there 1.5 hours early to check out some of the festival stuff outside. 3 hours to get "home" (had to stop to cat sit at a house in Dearborn) 1 hour in the bus shuttle back, 1 hour in the Briarwood parking lot, and one hour driving home because we were diverted past state street and had to take a back route.

Should've stopped by!

Wow, I REALLY was ahead of the curve. When I got to State Street there wasn't any traffic at all. I drove down Geddes Rd for miles without anyone following me.

You did better than others I know. One of my employees lives in Royal Oak and he got home at 10:30pm.

I read something that the Nationals owner is part of the ownership group of the Capitals, and that he would be unlikely to let the game take place at Camden Yards. More likely that it will be at Nationals Park.

I'm hoping though, that the opponent is the Lightning. Flyers have been in two WCs already. Get Stamkos on the big stage.

Yeah, it's a long shot, but it's the only way I consider it.

And if we thought AA was cold, imagine when it goes to Minny...

[Stewie 721]

Or imagine if it was this Tuesday! I'd have gotten up and found people if there wasn't a huge line in the aisle to move up into the third period, or if I could move down the rows without squeezing through 467357 people lol

[MarsB 33]

Is that bad of traffic typical during big Michigan football matchups? I remember hearing someone affiliated with UM (Red Berenson if I recall) touting how well Ann Arbor handled big gameday traffic.

[Stewie 721]

Is that bad of traffic typical during big Michigan football matchups? I remember hearing someone affiliated with UM (Red Berenson if I recall) touting how well Ann Arbor handled big gameday traffic.

no. there is a huge difference between Michigan Football games and the WC.

Commuter numbers are DRASTICALLY increased. For U of M football games, a large portion of those attending live on campus, or not far, in AA. The WC had people coming from all over MI, Canada, and other areas, virtually no one was "on campus" as classes were out, and the weather was not the best.

[MarsB 33]

Ah, that makes sense! I live near a college football stadium and can totally relate to that. That said, ours only seats 60,000 and can be a mess- hard to imagine the logistics of one that seats over 100K!

[stnlycup67 38]

.My brother and nephew were hanging out in the bathrooms before the game to stay warm..They parked at briarwood..got home(toledo) at 11:30..Took them a couple days to thaw out..We reserved 10 seats for the Winterfest game here in Toledo at 5/3 field for this december.. have all my snowmobile gear still, so Im not planning on freezing. Its not the NHL, but still should be fun

[Stewie 721]

.My brother and nephew were hanging out in the bathrooms before the game to stay warm..They parked at briarwood..got home(toledo) at 11:30..Took them a couple days to thaw out..We reserved 10 seats for the Winterfest game here in Toledo at 5/3 field for this december.. have all my snowmobile gear still, so Im not planning on freezing. Its not the NHL, but still should be fun

how expensive is that game? I might look to attend

[stnlycup67 38]

Hate to say that Im not sure..My brother is a season ticket holder and reserved them...Im not sure he even know for sure..Ive been searching and cant find anything yet...I can let you know when I find out

[RadioGaGa 162]

Has everyone seen this yet?

http://gigapixel.panoramas.com/winterclassic/2014/

Very, very cool. You can tag yourself in the picture, and zoom right in to see yourself

[tarmogoyf 2]

Ah, I've been looking for that. Can't see myself though, guy on the wings bench has his head right where I was sitting.

[Stewie 721]

found myself, and the inch of snow on top of my hat lol. still not sure why there was 4 times the amount of people in our sections aisle the entire time

[JR Boucicaut 3801]

Has everyone seen this yet?

http://gigapixel.panoramas.com/winterclassic/2014/

Very, very cool. You can tag yourself in the picture, and zoom right in to see yourself

Yeah, I tagged myself the other day. I'm on the Leafs side, right side of the scoreboard, about 10 rows down from the top, towards the end of the aisle.