“Well it’s all right, everythingll work out fine
Well it’s all right, were going to the end of the line.”
And just like that, after trips to Provo, Las Vegas, Seattle, Corvallis, Palo Alto and Salt Lake City we have come to the end of line, folks. Our final road trip of the 2012 regular season takes us to the scorching hot desert of Tempe, AZ. For those of you making the trip, just be glad this isn’t a September game like UNLV. However, even on November 17 you are likely to find weather that requires sunscreen and a comprehensive hydration strategy. Arizona is a state I have successfully avoided so far, mostly due to my fondness for things like trees and lushness (So why do I live in Utah?) and a hatred for scorpions. But that won’t stop me from giving you a preview of our trip to Tempe that is anything but authoritative…
Plenty of cheap seats available on the mountain.
First of all, I am going to discourage you all from tailgating in Tempe. The Arizona State campus and Sun Devil Stadium are not your typical ivy draped, maple and oak shaded environs you encounter on many college football road trips.
The visitor’s tailgate area at Sun Devil Stadium.
Instead of a grassy quad, or some famous old grove, you will likely be setting up your grill in the middle of a vast asphalt wasteland with a charming name like “Parking Lot 47” or something like that. Unless you own your own Cool Zone, this might be less than ideal.
Of course, this is going to be a November game, so perhaps the temps will have mellowed out, but even if the weather is survivable, the local gendarme have a penchant for ruining the fun. It seems in recent years that ASU has made some attempts to shed its party school image and cracking down on pre-game revelry is part of this strategy. Here is what they say about tailgating (from the official ASU Q&A, I made the important parts bold):
“The President has authorized tailgating to occur in the University’s parking lots and structures 3½ hours preceding home football games. The consumption of beer and wine is permitted but under Arizona law, the consumption of liquor is not authorized. Beer and wine cannot be taken into Sun Devil Stadium nor can they be consumed in the parking lots/structures once the game commences.“
Whoa, are we back in Provo? Ok, so basically, lets just skip the tailgating, agreed? Now for what to do pre-game… I am going to go waaaaaay out on a limb here and suggest that we all head down to Mill Avenue, Tempe’s dining, drinking and what-ever-elseing district where you can enjoy your pre-game beverages in air conditioned comfort. It also happens to be walking distance from the stadium.
Hey, that guy has beads, flash him.
So what else to do? Well, Tempe is part of the whole Phoenix/Scottsdale metro area which is home to about a billion golf courses. Golf in November is such a novelty for those of us from the Northwest, that you might as well take advantage. I would also not miss the opportunity to visit two of the most awesome (at least in my imagination) celebrity-owned sports bars… Majerle’s, owned by Phoenix Suns legend, “Thunder Dan” Majerle, and Alice Cooperstown, owned by, well, yeah… Alice Cooper. If you can’t make it to their restaurants you can probably find Alice Cooper at the golf course where he is a 2 handicap and frequent PGA Pro-Am player, and you’ll find Thunder Dan at the ball park fielding line drives…
So there it is, folks, your comprehnsive guide to all things Tempe. Until next time… oh, wait, I almost forgot! This is a blog post about Arizona State afterall, so here you go…
Clockwise from top left: Hotties, Hotties, Hotties and WTF?.
Happy? good. I’m not sure if we’ll be playing our Bowl Game in Pasadena, or Miami’s Sun Life Stadium, but as soon as we know the location I’ll be sure to give it the Road Warrior treatment. Until then, Go Cougs!
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