That’s Bryce out there! His first clinical rotation in Athletic Training is with the football team – his dream come true!
Bryce and the Athletic Training Team, as well as the football team, worked really hard during their pre-season fall camp, and they were ready for their big home opener against Utah State.
The Athletic Training Team took group pictures in the stadium, and Bryce sent me one. He’s thrilled to be part of this team, and it’s such a great learning experience for him!
He’s allowed 2 guest tickets for each game, so Tom and I got to go to this first game. I’ve never been to a college football game before, let alone one in the Big 10, so I was pretty excited . . . plus there was the potential of seeing Bryce on the field, so that was extra exciting!
Hannah’s parents are season ticket holders at MSU, so they were going, as well, and we were able to carpool with them. That was a huge relief, since we had no idea what the parking situation was going to be, or where we had to go once we got there!
Tari planned a tailgate, and we got there a couple hours before gametime. There were LOTS of people tailgating, but we found a nice shady spot along the Red Cedar River, next to the structure where they have their parking pass.
I’ve never seen so much green & white in one place in my life!! Tom was decked out in his Spartan gear, but I don’t have any . . . what’s up with that!?! I’ll fix that before the next game!
We had a nice time, and Hannah stopped by with a few of her friends and Bryce’s roommates. The kids enjoyed the food – they’re all in apartments this year and responsible for cooking for themselves . . . so they’re not going to refuse a free meal! They had to stand in line to get decent seats in the student section, so they headed into the stadium before we did, but we weren’t far behind.
We packed up all the tailgate stuff and put it back in the car, then walked over to the stadium. They have a great parking location, and it was only about a 10 minute walk to the stadium, so that was really nice.
We found the “Spartan Players Guests” entrance (that’s pretty cool!) and picked up our tickets. Our seats were in the end zone, in row TWO . . . wow – we had a great view, when they were at our end of the field!
Bryce was over on the sideline somewhere, but we couldn’t find him in that mass of people!
I knew he was assigned to the defense, and he said that he would be out on the field during their time-outs. So, as long as I could keep track of which team had the ball, I knew when to look for him!
There he is – we could spot him when he was out there, but I didn’t get very good pictures with my phone!
Thankfully, Paul & Tari are on the 30 yard line, and he was often right in front of them, so she got some better pictures for me!
The section we were sitting in was right next to the band, which was really loud . . . they put on a really good show, though!
The game was a little closer than it was supposed to be, and Utah tied it up with 5 minutes left . . . that made it pretty exciting, and kept most people there until the very end!
We had a great view at our end of the field . . .
for the game, as well as the dance team, cheer team and Sparty . . .
and the Drum Line!
It was a very exciting game, and we had a lot of fun,
and the Spartans pulled off a win in the last couple minutes!
At the end of the game, the team gathers in the corner by the band and student section . . . while the Athletic Training Team clean up the equipment!
Lots of excitement after the first win, spilling out of the stadium, too!
We had a great time at the tailgate, and at the game . . . and we’re looking forward to going again . . . next time I’m taking my regular camera and zoom lens, though!! Gotta get some good pictures of my boy!
That's what he always said he wanted to do and he was in the thick of it. Good Job Bryce!
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That is great! Looks like a good time.
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