JRS/Hard Rock Stadium Renovations, Phase II.... | Page 59 | FinHeaven - Miami Dolphins Forums

JRS/Hard Rock Stadium Renovations, Phase II....

Let me expand somewhat. The sound was overbearing in the low upper deck, due to those loudspeakers attached to the underside of the new roof. I'm not sure how much of that reached the field. Richt surprised me in the WQAM post game show by saying the crowd needs to be louder, although he quickly caught himself and said, "It was loud tonight..."

We'll have to see if the opponent is impacted, via inability to hear signals and abnormally high false starts, etc. like the Orange Bowl. If not, the rooftop sound system may impact fans somewhat more than the players. I've seen posts elsewhere accurately describing that the sound system was particularly loud in the first quarter last night. Absolutely. Too damn loud and not clear. It reminded me of some lousy concerts I attended in Las Vegas and couldn't wait to leave. The Canes had some typical video segments during that opening quarter, like asking a fan to name as many holidays as possible within 15 seconds. The sound was so loud it distorted words and I couldn't make out the answers. I heard nearby fans asking the same thing, "What did he say?"

The volume was seemingly turned a bit down for the remainder of the game. Noticeable improvement.

I'm sure it will be a significantly louder venue but perhaps not as much of an improvement on the field as it seems from the stands nearby that roof.

Everybody is focusing on the positives. That's natural and proper, given all the anticipation. I don't mind taking a different path and emphasizing the lack of air circulation. It is very real. Those stationary streamers were not a mirage, nor the hundreds of fans fanning themselves. I saw someone on another site today saying it was so hot they should have water mists in the stadium. That won't do it. We just need a favorable distribution of abnormally windy days, especially when the Canes play.

The lack of swirling wind should also aid the quarterbacks and completion percentage. Last night I spotlighted the placekickers lacking excuse.
 
Well are seats are in the lower visitor section at about the 40 yard line. We weren't uncomfortable and I don't recall anyone using fans etc to stay cool in our area.

Of course this was our experience for one night, One game. I would also like to point out that are seat location allows us to go underneath to the A/C etc so that's an added benefit that we did use during halftime.
 
WTF. Who the hell needs a delivery a game day?


Nick Wagoner ‏@nwagoner 3m3 minutes ago
49ers just announced a partnership with Amazon Prime Now to allow deliveries to designated parking lots on game days.
 
WTF. Who the hell needs a delivery a game day?


Nick Wagoner ‏@nwagoner 3m3 minutes ago
49ers just announced a partnership with Amazon Prime Now to allow deliveries to designated parking lots on game days.

Cocaine by drone is the new way of being a bad mother****er.
 
I like the orange trim everywhere


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Watching the Canes play, kinda surprised the announcers talked about the crowd noise affecting the game a couple times....hope the roof is paying off lol


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Seems like the bottom 20 rows are getting soaked in the rain tonight :-(
 
Depending where you were at and which way the wind was blowing the rain. Looked like those in the end zone with the ETFE installed were fine for the most part.
 
After two Canes games it's glaring that this version of the stadium varies quite a bit based on the public address system. It will be interesting to see how the Dolphins play this, or are allowed to play it via league guidelines. The Canes are still experimenting.

Last Saturday it felt like an indoor venue, an incredibly loud indoor venue, particularly in the first quarter when the decibel level was concert-like. The Canes obviously fielded some complaints during the week, or were aware of the online attention. Tonight it was more like the old stadium with a new roof. I had no trouble at all carrying on conversations with the sharp guy seated next to me. In fact, we talked about some things that I intended to mention last week, when the volume simply wouldn't allow it.

This was during the first half. The crowd was similar sized to last week but appeared a bit lesser. I understand the attendance figures back that up. Frankly I appreciated the first half volume tonight from a comfort level but from a home team standpoint it seemed too low, not to fit the expenditure. Sideline microphones last week were picking up the band volume and other collegiate pageantry and sending it blasting through speakers on the underside of that new roof. I saw posts on Canes sites saying the stadium was now incredibly loud but we were going to have to deal with the Florida State war chant all night in a few weeks because that too was guaranteed to be picked up. Tonight during the first half I had to chuckle about that concern. I could hear the Canes band on the opposite (north) side of the stands only in moderate level from my seat low in the south side upper deck. Sure it was overall louder than previous seasons but not appreciably. Not influential. Those time out segments like cheerleader of the game that I mentioned last week were now considerably more obscure, earning some attention but not blasted in your ear.

At the opening kickoff of the second half tonight it changed dramatically. Heads in the stands literally shifted based on the new volume setting. Unbelievable. The PA guy was announcing that FAU was set to kick off but he did so at a setting that seemed 3x the first half. Somebody obviously realized the first half level was overly tame. Then they overdid it before catching themselves and sending it downward, not to first half level but more like second half from last week. Perhaps slightly lower. High but not overbearing. I could still converse with the guy next to me but sometimes had to wait for a lull.

* It was still warm tonight and those upright streamers barely moved. The breeze was from the east as opposed to the west last week. That helped somewhat in my seating area. Not as many people were fanning themselves as last week. Maybe an easterly breeze gets into this configuration more dependably. I still saw lots of fanning in the lower bowl, notably in the west end zone about 2/3 of the way up, in section 102 and adjacent.

* When I looped the upper deck at halftime it was startling how much wind there was for a brief stretch. I had to grab my visor to keep it from blowing off my head. The guy in front of me did the same with his baseball cap. I immediately dashed into the closest section. Nope, those streamers weren't feeling it at all. Wind simply doesn't make it down there.

* There was a small amount of rain at halftime. I felt some of it while doing my loop and noticed it off the edge of the structure. It was quickly evident how the renovation steadily pays for itself. Nobody in the concession lines noticed the rain or departed the lines. Zero. They were completely covered and oblivious, happily spending money. I contrasted that to prior years when that upper deck area got so drenched that people would take immediate cover in the short tunnels between sections, or under the canopies. Those canopies are gone now. No need to protect people from wisps of rain toward the edge of that upper deck when they can be perfectly roofed and dry a few feet away, tempted by the concession lines. They are also selling merchandise in more places and away from the elements

When I returned to my seat and told the people seated next to me that it was raining lightly, they were shocked. One of them grabbed his iPhone and didn't believe it until he saw the blue and red swirls on his screen, already in Miami Gardens and more ominous ones headed our way

* Forty-five minutes later at the outset of the 4th quarter this altered stadium passed its first big rain test in magnificent fashion. That was the highlight and curiosity of the night. I've never been in a venue with such varied impact of weather, depending on your location. We were completely covered and relaxed in the low southwest upper deck, watching the scrambling more in the stands than on the field. Spectators in the lower west end zone and lower (visitor) north side turned and dashed upwards once that deluge began. Those clear panels on the inside edge of the new roof are in place on the south side and east end zone, but not elsewhere. Spectators who will be protected in weeks or months or whenever were not so fortunate or dry tonight. Admittedly it was somewhat entertaining. Fans in that lower west end zone got up and out of there, into the tunnels and out of sight. On the visitor side it as considerably different. Fans moved upward but stayed in the viewing area, under the roof. Many of them stood congested in the rows before being asked to move. It was a bizarre sight with the lower half of those sections now all but empty and the upper half full and overflowing, like somebody drew a line.

The rain cooled things off and made for a pleasant 4th quarter, especially if you gave the points with that late extremely fortunate front door cover. by the Canes. I was not involved.

* Walking down the ramp at game's end I discovered another offshoot of the new roof and its parameters. The ramp was now partially wet and partially dry. Those are the most dangerous conditions for wheels of a car tire and I nearly pratfalled tonight. Now I know what shoes to wear next time. Not the ones I sported tonight. I saw several people clutching the rail on the side while descending.

* Did Bill Polian really claim this is the equivalent of $1.2 billion stadium? Oh my. Bill Polian does some good work on ESPN but in this case he's a Happy Adjuster. Not even close or competent. There are drab areas all over the place. I've been to venues like Dallas and Phoenix. Those stadiums are plush and logical, everything designed to fit and match from ground up, not a contrived plop patchwork of a 29 year old frump. I'm reminded that Bill Polian raved about Earl Mitchell in free agency.

* Oh, on entry they did somewhat fix the issue of the poorly functioning self scanners. Instead of nary a nearby employee like last week, they had somebody assigned to most of them tonight, at least 2 per every 3. They were wearing "Elite" shirts and aiding anybody having problems with the scanner. There were plenty of problems. The guy in front of me had his ticket rejected even though his wife and kids' tickets were accepted. He showed the worker that they were adjacent seats in the same row so it made no sense that one of them wasn't valid. Luckily the worker agreed and let him in. But get this, he was forced to get down on his knees and literally crawl underneath the bar, since it wouldn't otherwise budge until another valid ticket was recognized. Fortunately he was a smaller Asian guy. No chance I could have made that bend.

This is the second time in as many weeks that the family in front of me had considerable troubles with those self scanners. But I do commend the stadium management for recognizing the issue and placing those workers at the spot, instead of denying the problem. It does somewhat defeat the purpose of a self scanner.
 
Here's what it looks like during a downpour. Dry and comfortable at 325 on the home side. Also, comfortable being the only FAU person in a navy shirt surrounded by Canes fans that smelled like Bud Light and fryer oil. You can't get away from that smell at the stadium lol. Didn't really see any jerks all day.

[video=youtube;KKqGtLOJghk]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KKqGtLOJghk[/video]

As soon as it started downpouring, the endzone lights cut out. I hope nothing shorted out!. I think they cut them as a precaution because there was some pretty significant leakage going on in the corners. I took a video of where the rain shelter ended:

[video=youtube;nE-GYygKqhI]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nE-GYygKqhI[/video]

Without the ETFE panels in place, about half of the lower sections get exposed to rain. And the lower corners get soaked from whatever that leakage or drainage was. It looked like enough water to hurt if it fell on you. Hopefully that's gone when they put the final skin on the canopy. The home side is completely finished with the skin and the ETFE panels and everything and it was perfect. We didn't even get a drop-- the wind didn't blow anything.

The northeast corner of the stadium-- the left-most section of visitor's sideline-- was the only thing getting direct sun during kickoff until sundown. Right where all the poor FAU students were. It was brutal, too.

There is no breeze at all in this stadium. People were commenting that they should put giant fans in the gaps next to the jumbotrons. The seats are also kind of tight and aren't any more comfortable than they used to be. I did not enjoy touching shoulders and lovehandles with the gentleman next to me. Even with the shade my navy blue shirt got all salty and it was still hot as hell. If you're going to go to the games, you still gotta hydrate.

As far as noise goes, it gets REALLY loud when the crowd yells. As I mentioned earlier, the crowd was kind of sedate tonight. Not real crazy, even when FAU's mighty owly defense bent Kaaya out of shape. It's going to be crazy in there when they play the Noles or Gators. The PA system was all over the place tonight. Sometimes it was hearing-damage loud and they quickly had to dial down the volume. Thanks to the roof you can really hear when someone yells something stupid from the rafters. "Stop throwing an interception, Kaaya!" Stuff like that.

I liked it when the PA wasn't super loud. I think they did a good job. Lots of miami bass and rick ross/trick daddy style rap music was played, and it was comfortably boomy but not shrill, distorted, and crushed in on itself like it has been in the past.

Also, the frozen drink looked delicious but they were freaking $16. They would probably sell a TON of those margarita/strawberry/canes slushies if they dropped the price. Doesn't even need to have alcohol.
 
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Turf is already being ripped up and replaced in the middle of the field. Guess the rain during the game on Saturday night did enough damage that it needed to go.

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