I was lucky enough to be in the sideline club yesterday and it is awesome. A buffet of all you can eat all you can eat ice cream grab and go sodas, popcorn, pretzels something we needed for more premium option.

A few more random observations after the wbb game tonight:

1. The haze from the pregame pyrotechnics is real. Just after tipoff, there was a loud noise that i first thought was the drummer from BUGWB doing a drumroll until we scored. But it kept going and going. And was like a loud buzz throughout the arena. All we could figure is that it may have been an exhaust fan trying to get rid of the smoke and haze. It finally stopped mid 1Q.

2. Noise level was still very high, although the crowd was smaller. Got very loud when we turned it around 3Q. Bass from the DJ was still much too loud, but not quite as ubiquitous as the night before. Still very difficult to carry on a conversation during a timeout.

3. The free food in the club lounge for men's games is not free for women's games, although they still charged somewhat of a premium for club seats. Hot dog seemed better and meatier, though.

4. The view from the top of the steps that come up from the lounge was the best view of the court I have seen. Our seats were above the opening and were fine, but not as good.

5. This is not an arena built for an older fanbase with poorly functioning knees. Lots of the WBB loyal fanbase having to go very slowly up and down the steps. And that was on the (slightly) less steep steps of the club level. And the steps seem narrower than FC, with turns that also slow down the traffic.

6. After the game, we stayed in our seats for the Line, and were slower getting away. By the time we were on the plaza, the line for the buses stretched all the way across the plaza from U-P back to the front door of the arena. And only 2 buses in sight. Maybe they had fewer buses lined up since the crowd was smaller.

7. One advantage of little or no parking near the arena is that there is little traffic around the arena. I'm still learning the best way to get home while minimizing traffic.

1. I was wondering what that noise was & concluded it was the AC or the ventilation system. I also thought it was a drumroll that continued during play (very unusual & against the rules).

2. Bass was so loud that I felt in my seat. Literally, the seat was vibrating. I wondered if the subwoofers were under the seats.

6. I parked downtown & walked to the arena. It was no problem at all: not very cold (not wet & no wind either). I should note that I used to walk to McLane for football games when the shuttle line was long. Because the kind for the buses was already king after the game, I walked back. Again, it didn't bother me.

7. After years of redoing with football traffic, I know the alternate routes to avoid much of the traffic. That actually is an advantage to parking downtown instead of at McLane or in a garage (also that it's free). It was nice to have so little traffic but partly that was because of construction and the closure of University Parks. After it's repaved & all construction is complete, they might close it anyway like the do for football game days. It might be more difficult because it's immediately adjacent to IH 35.

Yogi said:

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They have a convenience store on the club level. I kid you not. Bottled sodas, snacks, pretzels all on the club level.

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Cefco or Buc-ee's?

The latter would be so much better but that would be impossible: the footprint of Foster is smaller than most Buc-ee's I've been to. Besides, I don't think any of the restrooms are big enough!

EatMoreSalmon said:

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Yogi said:

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They have a convenience store on the club level. I kid you not. Bottled sodas, snacks, pretzels all on the club level.

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Cefco or Buc-ee's?

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Can't be a Buccee's because it's owned by an aggie. But a cool idea nevertheless.

No lotto tix or NoDoze by the way.

martin18 said:

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Is there any info on the broadcast setup at Foster?

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I now know why no one answered this…

Calrocks94 said:

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I wish they would've put a fountain in in front of the arena that could've been a cool feature when we win that it shoots up green colored water. Also going into next season. I hope they can have like three performers and vendors set up in front of the arena for after games to entertain people.

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The sax player from McLane gets my vote.

Man, they are taking forever to finish it up. That parking garage is taking forever. I wonder when they're finally going to do the full move-in from the Ferrell center over to there for the coaching staff and the practice facility. I'm interested to see what kind of retail they can put on the first floor of the parking garage hopefully we get a bar style restaurant

They probably were waiting for summer to get much of the work done. Also, there were likely some weather delays for external work. We've had quite a bit of rain the past few weeks.

Red brick going up on the parking garage and Foster's new neighborhood on University Parks Drive.

New Performing Arts Center idea/ rendering.

Class of 1971. Mind boggling. What happened to St. Vincent D'Paul Thrift Store? Is this really Waco?? John Bridgers would not recognize it.

Pretty exciting stuff in downtown going up.

I am hopeful some BMD will help get the Performing Arts Center built sooner than later. That would be a great fixture and exclamation point to that riverfront development.

The area from 35 to almost Franklin is looking nice. Very modern and clean looking.

Keep it up, Waco!

For those wanting to see the "BU" going up on the North side.

Yogi said:

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Is it possible to walk over to the Budweiser distributor and get a beer at halftime? Asking for a friend.

GoodOleBaylorLine said:

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Yogi said:

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Is it possible to walk over to the Budweiser distributor and get a beer at halftime? Asking for a friend.

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Depends.

I am 49 and completely doable, though there is a 7-11 across the street.