Hawkeye-Gopher game from the concourse

Saturday I had the opportunity to work security at the Iowa-Minnesota game.  What Iowa fan wouldn't want to get paid to see them play especially when Minnesota is doing the paying?  I went through a few hours of training a few weeks ago but didn't really know what to expect.  I reported at 11am for the 2:30 kickoff.  It took a few minutes to get my uniform, a bright yellow jacket to go over "however many layers you need to stay warm."  (I had 5.)  Then I found a chair until it was time to head up to the student section where we got our assignments.  When one of the supervisors added me to his group he told me it would be one of the warmer jobs.  As we walked around the concourse to our location the constantly running water fountains were my first clue that there wasn't anywhere on the concourse that would qualify as warm.  It was 21 degrees on the field and it was several degrees cooler when surrounded by concrete.

My assignment was shared with two other people.  One of us stood next to the entrance to Goldy's (the U of Minn clothing store which did a great deal of business - though it could have just been a great place to go to warm up).  Another checked tickets at the door leading to the premium seating elevators.  The third stood in by the elevators.  That's where the warmth was.  We rotated every 15 minutes so after a half hour of cold we took a turn getting warm.  None of the jobs were difficult and gave me ample opportunity to people-watch.  However I didn't have a view of the field.  Fortunately there was a TV monitor in both locations so I could follow what was happening.  It wouldn't have helped to follow the roar of the crowd since both the Minnesota and Iowa fans put out about the same volume.

During the training we had been told that the student section yells, "We hate Iowa" even when they aren't playing Iowa.  I'm not sure that is true (though I was far from the student section) and from my vantage point it was a good-natured rivalry among the fans.  In fact there were several couples or groups made up of both Minnesota and Iowa fans.  Everyone was cold (except those who were dressed for snowmobiling or hunting) and both sides had things to cheer about until the last Minnesota drive which won the game for them.   The goal posts came down and a group of fans thoroughly enjoyed leaving the stadium cheering, "Who beat Iowa?  We beat Iowa!" After waiting for the stadium to clear and checking a few sections for lost-&-found items, I was glad for a brisk walk and an all out sprint for the last block to catch a nice warm bus home.  I was also glad to have some left-over soup to warm up for supper.