{"id":2572,"date":"2014-09-04T08:00:11","date_gmt":"2014-09-04T12:00:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.brianarner.com\/weblog\/?p=2572"},"modified":"2014-09-04T04:08:25","modified_gmt":"2014-09-04T08:08:25","slug":"watching-tennessee-football-from-the-sky","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.brianarner.com\/weblog\/2014\/09\/watching-tennessee-football-from-the-sky\/","title":{"rendered":"Watching Tennessee Football From The Sky"},"content":{"rendered":"

On 31 August 2014, I attended the University of Tennessee’s season opener against Utah State<\/a>.\u00a0 I had a rare treat: a friend hooked me up with a skybox pass.\u00a0 A few pictures from the evening.<\/p>\n

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Pride of the Southland Band pregame march<\/p><\/div>\n

I arrived at the stadium (after a lengthy walk) about 1 hour 40 minutes before kickoff. The sky was threatening rain, but it was still dry.<\/p>\n

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A sea of orange<\/p><\/div>\n

An hour before the game I met my friend at Gate 26 (the east side skyboxes).\u00a0 It was starting to sprinkle.\u00a0 I had my ticket scanned, walked a few feet to the elevators, and was whisked up to the fifth level.<\/p>\n

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Looking east toward downtown from the fifth level<\/p><\/div>\n

The skybox area is considerably less crowded than the stadium.\u00a0 There’s a large common foyer area in the middle where hosts serve free snacks, salads, desserts, and drinks.\u00a0 It’s much better than the concession stands.<\/p>\n

A rain shower rolled through about 40 minutes before kickoff.\u00a0 It remained dry in the box.<\/p>\n

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Rain shower<\/p><\/div>\n

The rain stopped after several minutes, and it remained dry for most of rest of the night.<\/p>\n

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Pride of the Southland Band pregame performance<\/p><\/div>\n

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Tennessee Volunteers running through the “T”<\/p><\/div>\n

Our skybox had a sink, counter space, and a refrigerator (not pictured).<\/p>\n

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Inside the skybox<\/p><\/div>\n

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With Keith, my college roommate<\/p><\/div>\n

I enjoyed watching the game above the unwashed masses.\u00a0 My only issue is that you feel somewhat removed from the stadium experience, particularly the sounds.\u00a0 A few minutes into the first quarter we opened the one window that you can open, and that allowed some noise in, but it still seemed detached from the stands.<\/p>\n

Apart from that, it was an enjoyable experience.\u00a0 I’d love to do it again.<\/p>\n