Harvard Big Red Boulevard

[Trotsky]

nm

[stereax]

Big Red Boulevard was a good idea, launched with all the promise and polish of early Windows 95. Or our first year fighting World War II. Or Tesla QC the first couple years.

"Boulevard"? It was a crowded street with imprecise traffic patterns. BRB was the left side of Newman Arena (as you'd look in from the concourse), with the practice netting up around the arena center (the basketball court itself) not available for use and the far right side not used. It was cramped after the first 15 minutes.

Cheese, crackers, cold cuts and excellent doughnuts were free. (The doughnuts reminds me of the Cornell farm store that we always stopped at in the fall, and now it's gone gone gone. I think because it wasn't making money.) Wine was $7 for a modest pour. Beer was available, ditto soft drinks. There were a couple real entrees at the far back, $10, that were okay but I believe not available when the doors opened. It was clear this was not catered by Hotel students with their grades on the line. I sometimes think we should wow visitors with Hotel School catering at Lynah/Newman/Schoellkopf alongside the usual burgers-hot dogs-popcorn fare there is now. Maybe CU couldn't turn a profit but I bet enterprising Hotel / Johnson School roommates could be in the black quickly.

The Campus Store pop-up was really, really crowded. PSP, the people who make the great hats and sportwear (and who have been at the Newman concourse for some games), was not in on this. Why not let in non-Cornell vendors?

There was a photo booth with a step and repeat background with a cutout Big Red Bear and the human BRB (photo below), a couple of games such as throwing snow at a target. There were a couple things for littler kids. There were 10-15 small standup high-top table rounds the size of an X-Large pizza tray, not hardly enough for the crowd that surged in. We were in the first 50 in the doors and we did not give up our table.

There was a ~bingo card given to each person, and if you got ~9 stickers from visiting the locations, you got a prize but it was, I thought, an underwhelming trinket Big Red keychain. Would've been nice if 10 lucky fans who filled their cards were randomly picked for a T-shirt.

Yes, there were TVs there. Despite some comments ("How dare Cornell lure you away from watching the game in person?" ), I thought it was a nice way to see the game if you were in danger of missing the start of the first or second period. Lighten up, Lynah All Too Faithful.

BR Blvd. can only get better. Cornell under the new athletic leadership is trying. Give BRB Rev. 1.0 a C+ or if it makes Cornell feel better, a Harvard A-minus. Don't abandon this.

HARVARD A MINUS. 100% agreed with all your points - the "passport" (7 stickers) was really neat, at least to me, because it swayed my hand into actually going through the Boulevard and not just stopping at the 1 or 2 stations that piqued my interest. The little bear keychain, while a wee bit underwhelming, is still nice and I'll be keeping it as a memento. Didn't get to try the doughnuts, sadly

But yeah, the biggest issue I had with it was how cramped it all was. More space would have been really nice, as well as some way to form lines.

Wonderful pics, love Touchdown and his oversized fish friend!!!