49ers vs Patriots

Another Day Out at Levi’s Stadium

Game day for the 49ers vs the Patriots starts with a good in-room breakfast then it’s down to the VTA station outside the hotel at 10.20 am. The plan is to get a Blue line train to Baypointe, change onto the Orange line coming from Alum Rock and get off at Levi’s Stadium. There’s a three minute window between train changes but the VTA hardly ever seems to run on time or stick to the schedule on games days. As I will find out.

VTA ticket

According to their published schedule, VTA will run trains starting up the line at Gish station and going direct to Levi’s. They don’t normally do this so it’s a game day special. There is one of these scheduled to leave Gish at 10.41 am and arrive at Levi’s earlier than the Orange train from Alum Rock.

At 10.39 am the Blue line train pulls into Gish. As we passed a road junction on the way to stopping at Gish, I saw a VTA train stationary on the side road waiting to turn onto N First St. So I decide to get off at Gish and get the special train in a couple of minutes and so get to Levi’s about 10 minutes earlier than planned.

Except the advertised 10.41 am special train does not arrive. Nothing. The waiting train never left the side road whilst I was on Gish station. How crap is that? 10 minutes later a Green line train arrives at Gish which takes me direct to Levi’s Stadium. I arrive at 11.17 am, on time actually, about 10 minutes later than originally planned.

“Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes” * (but not for the better)

The tailgate is different this year. Levi’s have changed the rules for vehicles coming into the parking lot. It has created a lot of anger amongst the fan base from forum posts I’ve read. And from what I saw this year, it’s not a change for the best.

The old central core of tailgaters directly in front of Gate B, which were the most wild and raucous party-goers, has gone and this area of the lot is now an open ‘avenue’ with no cars.

One particular change that has caused a lot of fan anger is called “Directed Parking”. This is where cars are now forced to park next to each other as they arrive in the lot. So if you want to park next to your mates, you all have to meet up outside the lot then drive together in convoy onto the lot.

Another change is that cars must now park in assigned spots ordered by time arrival instead of choosing their own. Previously one car could arrive early, mark out and reserve the larger multi-car space your group wanted, and your mates could arrive at whatever time they wanted and make their way to the space. So where people had been setting up their tailgate pitches for years, they can’t do this now.

” Ain’t That a Shame” **

Whilst some people are still having a good time the overall tailgate felt disjointed with just pockets of party-going here and there. The 49ers are also cracking down on the playing of amplified music. I couldn’t find the Empire State crew where I ‘bought’ a beer on a previous visit. There also used to be loads of flags flying from the gazebos but very few on show this year.

It’s a real shame as this was always a great start to the day. Hopefully fan pressure will make whichever pen-pusher in the 49ers administration forced this through to change it back. It was, in its way, a bit of a ‘tourist attraction’ and to me part of 49ers culture. It looks to me like this has been done without a thought for the people that matter – the fans.

You watch a couple of short videos of the tailgate here and here (YouTube, opens new tab).

The rest of the day was excellent. After entering the stadium I check out the United Club again and see what food is on offer. It’s different from last year and the options not as good. I have a hot dog and fries, washed down with the ever expensive beer. But no price increase since last year thankfully.

Beating the Patriots

I walk the concourse as usual then back into the United Club to watch the game. The 49ers beat the New England Patriots 30-13. Brock Purdy continues to develop as a player and he threw some amazing passes. The defense was good but Shanahan has to get the offence playing better. We should have buried the Patriots by double the score given the dominance we showed but the offence is just not clicking as it should so far this season. You can watch part of my concourse walk on YouTube here.

No chat with anyone around me this year, just a few high-fives on scores and good plays. Certainly more animated than a Giants crowd anyway. It was a 1.05 pm kick-off and the game wraps up at 4.15 pm. I take my time to get to the Team Store where this year’s memento is a 49ers branded shot glass and shooter set. Well, just because…

I arrive back at the VTA station so late this year they are already dismantling the crowd control barriers. I’m in luck as a train arrives in a few minutes. I get back to the hotel at just gone 6 pm. I check out tomorrow’s drive and soon after go back downstairs to exit the hotel back onto First St and turn left up towards Rookies Sports Lounge. Again.

Rookies For Dinner And Beer

Bar stools are at a premium but I find one free next to a Patriots fan. He was born in Massachusetts but now lives in San Jose for work here, and watched the game in the bar. He didn’t say why he didn’t go to the game given he later told me he used to go to Gillette Stadium a lot when he lived back east.

The barmaid, a very young-ish lady, is particularly dense about beer and food when questioned. It was the Patriots fan who heard me asking her questions, and getting nowhere, that intervened to tell me what the various beers tasted like, and how we got talking. I order a French Dip sandwich to eat, which is very good but as usual way too large.

A group of three appear to my left, a mixed race couple and their son, who have been to the game today. The black guy has been a lifelong 49ers fans but today was his first game. He lives in Arizona and is in his mid-50s, so I wonder to myself, why not before now? But we’ve all got to start somewhere I guess.

We all chat a bit but after a while they clearly just want to talk as a family unit. They don’t even say goodbye when they leave later. Patriots fan is dealing with other Patriots fans to his right, one of whom I can hear is particularly loud and opinionated. My guy whispers to me that the loud guy “is an arsehole”. OK then…

I eat my dinner and watch the end of SNF whilst talking to the 49ers fans and Patriots guy. Then everyone leaves apart from Patriots guy. With the game over we start to chat about all sorts of things. We touch on road trips and he’s interested in where I’ve been. Not where I’m going on this trip though. He does however have some suggestions for where I could visit in New England, which he writes down on a napkin. I shall look these up on my return home.

Is He OK?

He only moved west four years ago. I sensed however that he’s not happy here. He mentioned having to change his accent because he got loads of shit from locals about the way he talked. Weird. He was very scathing about Californians and their prejudices. It’s not something I’d ever come across when working here. But then I suppose I was a real ‘outsider’ here on business and I never lived in the real world with my Californian co-employees.

We never exchanged names. At one point he whispered in my ear that “if you can’t do that you may as well put a gun to your head.” But then said out loud, “But I never said that to you,” so I did wonder after all if he’s really all right. I hope so. He’s definitely not happy here but said things that lead me to believe he’s trying to sort things out.

The bar closes at 9 pm and they now switch all the TVs off to say “get out”. So we do. Instead of a handshake outside on the sidewalk, Patriots guy fist-bumps me and we go our separate ways. Back at the hotel, my weekend of sport complete, I get into bed ready for the last part of this year’s trip.

It was another great day at Levi’s Stadium. Some niggles but that’s “life”, nothing catastrophic, just the way of the world. Tomorrow is another transition day, with more parks and forests to follow.

* Changes by David Bowie

** Ain’t That a Shame by Fats Domino