Sun Devils deserve more support from their fans
ASU did not deserve to win the game against UCF, but the ASU Sun Devils do deserve much better support from the people of Phoenix/Tempe. ASU apparently stands for Absolutely Silent and Underwhelming. If you have been reading my columns this season, then you know that when I visit places where UCF Football plays away games, I try my hardest to look at everything in the best light, even if it is different from what one might experience during a game weekend in Orlando. This approach was greatly challenged by my experience at Arizona State University. Despite this, I will do my best to cover the experience of the weekend in the community, the tailgates and in the stadium.
Let’s start with one of the few bright spots of the ASU game week experience: the Phoenix/Tempe area is a wonderful place. It is packed with everything a visitor would enjoy, including an amazing collection of unique and trendy restaurants, cool and hip breweries and shopping comparable to other major cities. In addition to that, they have a couple of really nice casinos, including the Talking Stick Casino, which has one of the nicest poker rooms I have ever seen.
THE GOOD
My traveling companions and I enjoyed a few of these locations, including our visit to the Arizona Wilderness Beer Garden for dinner and craft brews. When we arrived, the place was packed with customers and we were warned that while we could order food at the front of the line, it might be a challenge to find a table to sit down at. For me, these kinds of challenges are just opportunities to beat the odds. As luck would have it, and history predicted, I started a conversation with a nice couple who asked me to take their table, as they were preparing to leave. They were emblematic of the people of the desert valley: nice, courteous and helpful. The food and craft beer at the Arizona Wilderness Beer Garden was as great as the people. The burgers and tacos that everyone enjoyed got rave reviews, even if a certain beat writer for the Orlando Sentinel might have never had his taste buds return to normal following the scorching heat from his spicy pork tacos.
The other memorable meal from the trip was lunch at the Chucknbox. This straight up, old fashion joint serving hamburger and hotdog sandwiches with all of the usual fried sides that one might expect, was a way to feel the history of the campus denizens of days gone by. It opened in 1972 and feels like it hasn’t changed since, including the fact that it is a cash only establishment. Dining on the burgers and dogs, cooked over real wood, was a treat to experience. This experience starts when you are in the order line that snakes throughout the restaurant, out the door and around the old wood structured building. Long before you get to the person that takes your order, he will shout at you from across the room and you are expected to shout back your order. It was fun to be allowed to yell indoors, but it really keeps the line moving and it’s how they service so many people each day. The food itself was okay, but going there is more about making your visit part of the history of the campus community and not necessarily the food.
THE BAD
When it comes to experiencing the tailgate experience at different places, I like to show up at least four hours before game time. This gives me an opportunity to meet people, talk about the tailgating experience and capture the sights and sounds of the festivities. A few weeks earlier when I showed up to the tailgates at Iowa State University, the party was already in full swing with early arrivals having set up 12 hours before I set foot on campus. Nothing could be more different than what I witnessed at ASU.
Like Iowa State University, the tailgating areas at ASU are compressed and compacted around the stadium. Yet, despite this relatively small footprint, when I arrived at the ASU campus four hours before the game the tailgate lots were dead. They were shockingly empty. This is not hyperbole. If I were estimating the percentage of space that was empty, I would say that it was 90% vacant. Facing away from the stadium, the feel of the tailgating area is not enhanced by the surroundings. It is a flat, concrete surface surrounded by tall glass and steel buildings. Quite honestly, it felt like tailgating in an office park (This is sad, because much of the rest of the campus has a cool architectural vibe that looks like one might find Vegas would have looked like in the 1960s.) The one very cool thing that they had was that a number of tailgate spots were located under solar panels that provided shade to those that tailgated there. Of course, like the opportunity to tailgate, the shade created by these solar panels was wasted on cooling the concrete that nobody was occupying.
I will note that while the tailgating was sparsely populated, those who were there tried to make up for the lack of participation with their intensity. The few tailgates that were available to visit had wonderful, elaborate set ups, with trailers, craft beer, barbeque and custom vehicles, including the Sun Devil Fanbulance, an ambulance style vehicle decked out in the team colors and logos.
I asked all the friendly tailgaters that I talked with why the tailgate area was so empty so close to game time. All of the explanations boiled down to three excuses or explanations: some claimed that during the early part of the season, the temperature in the desert is so hot that people don’t want to hang out in a cement parking lot, others blamed the town and told me that because there is so much to do in the Phoenix area people are drawn away to other activities, and finally a third group of people pointed the finger at the previous athletic administration, claiming that they never bought into tailgating as a fan activity to encourage.
Of all these excuses, only one seems to hold water. I don’t buy the temperature argument, as there are plenty of places (like Orlando) that experience high temperatures during the early part of the football season, including the addition of stifling humidity to the heat. I similarly don’t accept that there is too much to do in Phoenix. To those that told me this, I replied simply, “I have one word for you… Orlando.” If the remaining excuse is true, that the previous athletic administration didn’t embrace tailgating, then I can only say that they have an uphill battle to change the way that people treat game day.
THE UGLY
The final examination of this trip has to do with the game day experience. Like tailgating, ASU has everything it needs to have a great experience, except for people. The stadium itself is beautiful and nestled in the side of bute (Floridians would call a butte a small mountain.) The stadium is also nicely maintained and does not show the signs of aging that one might expect would come from baking in the desert sun on a regular basis. Part of the stadium includes a beautiful area where they show off their athletic history and Hall of Fame honorees with wonderfully constructed displays.
As game time approached, I held out hope that the people who were avoiding the heat of the tailgate parking lot would show up to support a team that only suffered two losses. As it turns out, this was false hope. By the middle of the second quarter, when the crowd size peaked, the stadium was still only about 70% full. I could not help but think how thrilled Knight fans would be to pack the house for a 6-2 team in early November. Instead, the ASU Sun Devil Stadium more closely resembled the lower bowl of Raymond James Stadium for a usf home game.
There were hints about the community apathy regarding this team before and after the game. A few weeks before the game, Coach Kenny Dillingham chided the fanbase for not showing up and stated that this team deserved to have the stadium sold out. Additionally, during my weekend visit, I had the same conversation with a dozen people from waitresses, to hotel clerks to poker dealers. It always started with the same question: “What brings you to town?”, I would reply, “I’m here to cover the game.” In response, EVERY PERSON asked the same follow up question: “Oh, the Cardinals game?”
The hints of community apathy after the game were evident in the post game press conference with Coach Dillingham. In an abbreviated 11 minute session, rushed to conclusion by the need to join recruits at Top Golf, the coach openly pleaded with the local business community to support their team by providing NIL contracts to the quarterback. He said, “I don’t understand why businesses are not lining up to get him a contract.”
SUMMARY
The next time that UCF travels to ASU to play the Sun Devils, you can consider it a worthy trip to take, and enjoy what the valley has to offer. But like most of the Phoenix/Tempe residents, outside of the play between the lines, Knight fan enjoyment of the trip will likely come from aspects of the trip not associated with the gameday experience.
From a Sun Devil lifer and rabid college football fan, your observations and opinions are completely accurate. Had you visited 20-30 years ago you would have seen a much different reality, but the lack of any real sustained success by ASU and the transformation of the Valley to be primarily transplants with no connection to ASU, in addition to all the reasons listed by our fans has led to this.. The hard core base which use to number in the 50k range is probably now down to about 20k after the last two seasons. It takes next level success, not just a very nice 6-2 record to get people motivated to care. They have been duped too many times by ASU almost being good. We’re close once again but it will take a championship to validate it, so maybe in a few years if you come back it will all look a lot different. Thanks for the visit either way. Look forward to seeing UCF soon