Trip Report: Purdue Ross Ade Stadium

Location: West Lafayette, Indiana - Purdue University

Stadium: Ross Ade

Weather: Perfect - 70 degrees in November

Attendance: Announced 59,000 more like 50,000 were actually there

Accommodations: Stayed in Indy - 45 minutes South at a Sheraton for $105 a night for a two room suite. Great Deal!

Parking: $10 off campus with a shuttle to take you a block away from the stadium

As many of you may already know Purdue University is in the middle of nowhere between Indianapolis (1 hour away) and Chicago (2 hours away) in Indiana. When you get off the highway your first thought is you must be heading to buy a John Deere tractor or attending a sock hop.

The town is what you would expect from a small University town. They even have a 1960's drive up hot dog restaurant where you can order from your car. We didn't see any waitress on roller skates. "The" Fonz had no comment.

Bonus: I did notice they seem to have a what looks like a very nice University golf course.

The stadium is located in the middle of campus, so parking is an issue. Your best bet is to park a couple miles off campus at a church that provides a free shuttle both ways.

There were plenty of tickets to be bought outside the stadium, but I guess you would expect that from two teams with 4 wins between them. I was surprised at the number of Michigan fans that made the trip. If I had to estimate there were about 5,000 Michigan fans at the game.

They stick the visiting team in the end zone that doesn't have access to the rest of the stadium. This really doesn't make sense to me? They ran out of food at halftime in the visitors section and being locked in, you really didn't have time or access to look elsewhere. (you could get a pass that would allow you to go back and forth).

As far as the overall experience goes, your right on top of the action in this small stadium and have a great opportunity to be near field level and see the faces of the Wolverines as they enter and exit the field.

With some positives always comes some negatives, including the big jumbo tron that continues to show old "gimmick" movies clips when there is a big play or the Purdue defense needs a stop. They also blow this stupid train whistle about 400 times a game. I understand why they do it, but they should save it for touchdowns and not for every time they gain a yard from scrimmage.

They also have this unique/stupid cheer when they get a stop, turnover, or score. "Boiler up!", "Boiler Up!", "Boiler Up!". I've never had a boil but I'm pretty sure I wouldn't want it up higher then it really was!

The Purdue fans are a class act and we didn't even hear a boo or "your a Michigan fan?" comment all day.

Overall, it was a fun experience to attend a game in a different Big Ten stadium. I recommend going if you are looking for an away game to attend in a couple of years.

When they announced the 59,000 fans in attendance, a Michigan fan shouted, "where's the other half?"