Evil Ash
Henchman Supreme
http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/news/articles/0812stadopen0813-ON.html
Despite glitches, stadium wows fans
Pat Flannery, Robbie Sherwood, Scott Wong and Mike Cronin
The Arizona Republic
Jul. 12, 2006 11:06 PM
It was a bumpy shakedown cruise, but the Arizona Cardinals sailed to a historic first win Saturday in their new, $455 million football palace, surrounded by a screaming sea of red.
It was a capacity crowd of 63,400 that jammed into Glendale's gleaming sports venue for the Cardinals' first game in their very own house, a feat that took 18 years to achieve.
Unlike years of previous Cards games at Tempe's Sun Devil Stadium, this one was dominated by the hometown crowd, with the black and gold of Pittsburgh Steelers fans fading into the background of a bright red riot.
If the team's relationship with its boosters has at times been tempestuous, there was no doubting that they were lovebirds on this day.
The Cardinals pounded out a solid 21-13 preseason victory over last year's Super Bowl champs as fans oohed and aahed over the mega-dome's colorful, noisy ambience.
"It's just beautiful," gushed Frank Ochoa of Paradise Valley. "I'm shocked. It's great!"
Only time - and contract negotiations with star quarterback Matt Leinart - will tell how long the romance lasts, but Saturday was a day for the team and its followers to bask in a moment that was six years in the making.
When the doors swung open at 11:30 a.m., it ended an era of acrimonious bickering among Valley cities, the state and team over where the new stadium would rise and who would pay for it. Local county taxes and the Cardinals are financing the venue.
"It's a new beginning," Michael Bidwill, Cardinals vice president and general counsel, crowed after the game.
But along with the good came the bad, and Bidwill was the first to admit that traffic snarls and long lines for concessions were irritants that will need to improve with each game to keep fans happy.
Freeway accidents on Loop 101 and traffic jams near the stadium forced some fans to wait nearly 90 minutes to get into stadium parking lots.
Glendale officials and Global Spectrum, the stadium's operator, suggested drive times would improve without the accidents and with increased employee and fan familiarity with area traffic and parking routines.
The early birds began to arrive before 8 a.m. to tailgate on the Great Lawn, an 8-acre grassy park the team set aside for fans. On Saturday, it was dotted with dozens of tents and hundreds of fans tossing footballs, grilling steaks and good-naturedly badgering rival Steelers fans.
"It's exciting. It's history. We can say we were here for the first game," said Dina Valenzuela, 41, of Phoenix, who joined 20 friends to set up a tent and grill filet mignon, chicken and brats in the west parking lot.
For Karl Green, a 32-year-old barber from Surprise, it was like Christmas.
"I couldn't sleep last night, I was so excited," he said. Draped in an Edgerrin James jersey, Green grilled carne asada as he sipped beer on the Great Lawn. He threw his arms wide, encompassing the celebrations surrounding him, then pointed to the shiny silver dome.
"I'm not religious, but that is my temple," he said. "That's my cathedral."
While many grilled the traditional football way, others stopped at eateries and bars along the way. Most fans apparently took the unfamiliar drive to the West Valley in stride.
"It really wasn't that bad," said Randy Sturdivant, 53, who arrived moments before kick-off after a 90-minute drive from Chandler. "We knew it would be a madhouse today."
Even McDuffy's sports bar several miles north of the stadium and near Peoria Sports Complex had roughly 100 fans packed in for beer and comfort food by shortly after 10 a.m. Many left as game time neared, but a flood of fans showed up again late in the third quarter, and the postgame crowd grew until late afternoon, said Tony Guagenti, McDuffy's assistant general manager.
Inside the stadium, fans were wowed by the enormity of the venue, its clean architectural lines and the noise that 63,000-plus cheering people could generate inside a steel-and-concrete dome.
Sage Lentz, 36, a Paradise Valley real estate developer and season ticket holder since 1988, was so taken by its pristine condition that he cleaned up his mess, something he hadn't bothered to do when the team played at Sun Devil Stadium.
"I just picked up all my trash because it's too nice to leave it under my seat," Lentz said. "Before, you really didn't care."
But it was clear there were rough spots for the Arizona Sports and Tourism Authority, the building's owner; Global Spectrum, its manager; and various contractors and concessionaires to work out.
Traffic problems notwithstanding, many fans ran into security-check delays entering the building. And nearly all faced long lines everywhere for food and beverages.
Michelle Romero, 40, of Gallup, N.M., said she had been waiting at a north gate entrance for an hour and a half with her daughter-in-law and month-old grandson.
"They're not passing out water or giving us shade," said Romero, fanning herself with her ticket. "They're telling us to settle down."
Eventually, Glendale firefighters and police distributed roughly 2,500 bottles of cold water to keep fans hydrated, city spokeswoman Julie Frisoni said. Seven people were taken to area hospitals for heat-related illnesses, while three others were transported for a seizure, food poisoning and asthma, respectively.
Inside, struggling through the wall of people waiting for concessions made it difficult to move from one part of the stadium to another during some of the game, especially halftime.
"I wanted to get some nachos, but I never got any," said Joe Matthews, 31, of Richmond, Va. "The line was terrible. It's the first game, what do you expect?"
"They said it wouldn't be like this," another patron, Ron Brown of Peoria, shouted to no one in particular as he shuffled through a main concourse. "The bathrooms are quick, but the beer lines are too long. You miss too much of the game."
Most fans said they expect things to improve, a few warning that they might jump off the bandwagon.
"They can't have it like this on a regular basis," said Kathy Becht of Cave Creek.
The Cardinals' Bidwill thanked fans for their patience, saying it would "take a little time to get things finely tuned."
"I think most fans who were irritated by long lines understand that concession workers are brand-new employees," he said.
Global Spectrum General Manager Peter Sullivan said the stadium has more sales points than Sun Devil Stadium and most other modern stadiums, which should ultimately lessen the wait time for patrons. Conceding that lines were longer than expected Saturday, he nonetheless said a reassessment in the coming weeks should improve service and shorten lines.
"Experience gives us knowledge on this," Sullivan said. "I'm confident we will improve with every game. (And) I would argue that there were more positives than negatives."
One saving grace was the facility's air-conditioning, a far cry from the open-air Sun Devil Stadium, where sweltering Cardinals fans suffered through 18 seasons of blistering sunshine, humidity and hard seats.
Temperatures measured around the new venue by The Arizona Republic averaged only 2 degrees warmer than the 78 degrees promised by its operators. Even in the far reaches of the upper deck, the highest temperature recorded was 80.1 degrees.
Keeping people cool apparently kept tempers cool, too. Only two arrests were reported, both for drunk and disorderly conduct.
The heat outside the stadium took its toll, however.
Overall, Glendale spokeswoman Frisoni said, the city was pleased with how security issues were handled and how few arrests were needed. The city also was encouraged that there were no problems with traffic in surrounding neighborhoods.
Moving ahead, the city has immediate plans to study and try to improve coordination between its traffic-control gurus and the company that coordinates stadium parking lots. Changing and improving inbound and outbound traffic flows is a priority and should improve with time, she said.
The city also will work with the team to improve communication with ticketholders about how they should approach the venue and the parking lots they are assigned. Ultimately, she said some traffic routes around the stadium might be changed to improve traffic movement.
"We hope people will realize that this was a first game, and we'll keep working on it until it's perfect," Frisoni said.
