Foster Stadium in Lexington, VA

Basic Information

Stadium: Foster Stadium

Location: Lexington, VA (37.78888, -79.43502)

Owner: Virginia Military Institute (VMI)

Primary sport: football

Year constructed: 1962

Listed capacity: 10,000

Date last visited: November 2024

Stadium information: https://vmikeydets.com/news/2007/12/31/1357385.aspx

Summary Review: 2.5 stars (out of 5)

For many years I had been wanting to watch a game at a military school, and in November 2024 my travel schedule finally coincided with one of my teams playing at VMI.  As I expected, the gameday atmosphere is full of organization, formality, and pageantry.  The stadium offers no comforts or frills whatsoever, not even any backs on any of the seats.  My seat in the 10th row combined with the low November sun angle made it hard for me to see the action on the field.  Also, this stadium has the dreaded running track encircling the field.  Thus, the field view is pretty bad.  VMI football is well-supported only by the students, but the students in uniform are great to watch and listen to.  The video and audio systems are adequate but nothing more.  I wouldn't want to watch a game here every week, but for a one-time visit and a unique military school experience it's not bad.

Detailed Review:

Gameday Atmosphere: My trip to VMI was my first visit to a military school.  I have no military background, but I respect people who do.  VMI definitely has a different atmosphere; it is more structured and mechanical than you will find at any civilian school.  The entire student body comes to the game in uniform and marches onto the field before the game.  There is no marching band or halftime show.  The student section makes up more than half of the entire home fans, and they are very involved in the game.  Every building on campus (including the press box and stadium support buildings) looks like a fort or castle, and every building is painted the same dank light brown color.  While military life isn't for me, there is a certain formal beauty to it all.

Seating: all bench seating with no backs.

Field View: This stadium has the dreaded running track between the stands and the field, but the track goes to the very edge of the field, which is unusual.  The players on the sidelines stand on the track.  This is as close to the field as I have ever been at a stadium with a track.

Audio/Video: 1 nice video board at the east end.  Audio comes only from the east end.  The audio is loud enough but sometimes not very clear.

Concessions/Hot Dogs: The hot dogs are big, and the buns are even bigger, almost hoagy-sized.  They are not particularly flavorful.  These hot dogs are great if you want quantity over quality.

Pedestrian Flow: Foster Stadium has wide concourses and many entrances, so the light pedestrian traffic at VMI games flows fine.

Parking: even though few people travel from off campus to the games, parking is a real problem: the campus layout is so compact there are few places to park.  There is a free garage downtown, but I recommend the free street parking east of the stadium.  Don't park on the street in one of the nearby residential neighborhoods: you can be towed.

Rynearson Stadium in Ypsilanti, MI

Basic Information

Stadium: Rynearson Stadium

Location: Ypsilanti, MI (42.25588, -83.64738)

Owner: Eastern Michigan University

Primary sport: football

Year constructed: 1969

Listed capacity: 30,200

Date last visited: October 2024

Stadium information: https://emueagles.com/facilities/rynearson-stadium/2

Summary Review: 2 stars (out of 5)

Eastern Michigan nicknames their stadium "The Factory," and indeed it has a soulless, heartless, manufacturing center feel.  When you look around the stadium, you see concrete literally everywhere.  Even the turf is grey like concrete.  Moreover, some of this concrete is literally falling apart.  I thought about grabbing a small chunk of concrete and sticking it in my pocket as a souvenir, but I refrained.  Also, there used to be a running track between the stands and the field.  While the track has been removed, removing the track did not put fans any closer to the field, and the field area may be the largest I have seen in any college football stadium.  There are no concessions on the visitor's side, but there are some nice restrooms on that side.  The concessions are cheap.  Parking is free and less than a block from the stadium.  Wide concourses and many portals ensure good pedestrian flow.  While Rynearson Stadium probably won't make any lists of best college football stadiums, I have spent Saturday afternoons in worse stadiums even if this one needs some major reconstruction to be a high quality football venue.

Detailed Review:

Gameday Atmosphere: Like many Mid-American Conference (MAC) football programs, Eastern Michigan is not supported well by its fans.  The stadium is separated from main campus by a mile of other athletic fields and private property, an arrangement that ensures low student attendance.  Besides, EMU has a large commuter student population, so many of its students are off campus on Saturdays.  The marching band has a strong brassy sound, and their high stepping entrance is entertaining.  This is not the best gameday atmosphere, even in the MAC.

Seating: seating consists entirely of bench seating, and hence sitting in this stadium for 3 hours is fairly uncomfortable.

Field View: there used to be a running track between the stands and the field.  The track was removed a few years ago, but the stands are still a long way from the action.  The curvature of the stands relative to the sideline helps with the viewing angle but only a little.

Audio/Video: The public address system kept cutting out.  There is 1 decent sized video board at the north end of the stadium.

Concessions/Hot Dogs: regular concessions are located only on the home side, but there are some food trucks on the visitor side.  The hot dogs are large and juicy but also greasy and tasteless.

Pedestrian Flow: excellent wide concourses and a large number of portals to get fans in and out of the stands ensure good pedestrian flow.

Parking: lots of free parking right across the street west of the stadium.