Games @ Michigan State

[Will]

We should ALL go to the Notre Dame @ WMU game that Saturday night.  We should form a giant Cornell cheering section, just for the heck of it.  Hey, it'll be funny!  Also, it'll give my ego a boost, since I'm the one who came up with the idea (I'm one of the friends Ben Rocky 04 was talking about).

[jtwcornell91]

[Q]Will Wrote:

 We should ALL go to the Notre Dame @ WMU game that Saturday night.  We should form a giant Cornell cheering section, just for the heck of it.  Hey, it'll be funny!   Also, it'll give my ego a boost, since I'm the one who came up with the idea (I'm one of the friends Ben Rocky 04 was talking about).[/q]

Judging from our experience in 2002, I expect Lawson to receive us better than most arenas would.  The ushers were downright friendly to us after the second game, even though our team had just beaten theirs in overtime, and we'd been making a ruckus for two nights.  The people we interacted with, at least, understood friendly in-game rivalry and post-game camaraderie.  I'd also be prepared to root for WMU as long as they don't have Thunderstix that night. ::nut::

[Liz \'05]

I guess I only have two real questions.  
The first is, do I need to worry about anything other than transportation, lodging, and tickets?  
The second, and perhaps more important, question is, what is the timetable for all this?  In other words, it seems I need to think about lodging now, but when will I be able to get tickets to the games?  Should I be worrying about that now, or will I be able to pick them up on my way out of town from the Cornell box office?  I got tickets at RPI and Brown (the only other away games I've been to) at the box offices there, but I suspect that's not the best idea when you're making a 10-hour one-way trip.
Basically, any advice is appreciated - from answers to the above questions to what emergency supplies I might want to bring along in my car for this trip to what the (travelling) Faithful do outside Ithaca.
 ::help::  (what a perfect smiley!)

[KeithK]

Whether or not you need to worry about tickets in advance depends on the rink you're going to.  Looking at MSU's attendance figures last year, it looks like they get 6500  pretty consistently.  Not an exact number every time, which might indicate sellouts.  But it still seems llike you should get tickets in advance, esp. considering the trip.

As for lodging, check the cancellation policy at any hotel you look at.  If you cancel without penalty then just go ahead and reserve a room now and feel free to make changes later as necessary.  

[KeithK]

So I'm not going to get season tickets this year or even tickets at Hahvahd.  But at least I am definitely going to see Cornell in East Lansing.  Got airline and game tickets and didn't even have to stand in line...

[elliotb]

Jeff Newman and I are planning to go from Chicago. We have to come back in between games, though. If anyone wants to stay in Chicago, I'd be happy to host a couple of people.

- Elliot

[Robb]

I am also definitely going to both games at MSU, and just today ordered tickets for the Notre Dame @ WMU game Saturday night.  Just wanted to post in case the fact that more people are going might convince still more people to go...  Let's remind those midwesterners that we were the ones who taught Michigan to cheer!!!

[jkahn]

Received tickets in the mail today from the Cornell Athletic Ticket Office.  Seats are in Section F.  From the MSU website it looks like half of Section F is set aside for visitors.

[Robb]

I ordered tickets through MSU, because they went on sale earlier and I wanted to have tickets in hand before shelling out for airfare.  I imagine that I'll end up sitting (or actually, standing, I hope!) with whatever looks like the largest group of Cornellians - gotta achieve critical mass to really get the cheers going.

[jkahn]

I had heard that Cornell was getting 200 tickets per game from MSU.  Don't know how many were set aside for the team and parents, nor how many might remain available at the Ticket Office.

[Ben Rocky '04]

Talked to them today. About 30 are left at our Ticket Office.

[Ben Rocky '04]

Our group's tickets for the MSU games and WMU vs. Notre Dame are purchased.  Very few tickets are left at the Cornell box office, and even fewer are left for the WMU game on Saturday.  Where are other people sitting in Lawson?

[KeithK]

[q]...and even fewer are left for the WMU game on Saturday.[/q]WMU is close to selling out?  OK, now I'm confused.  I checked attendance numbers for last year and saw a 1000 difference between games against teams Notre Dame (the opponent for 11/13) and the likes of Michigan.  I just checked their website and see Lawson's capacity olisted at 3667, which is much lower than the numbers they had for Michigan and MSu last year.  Unless those games were at another arena.  Then again, the WMU web site lists their largest ever crowd at 5168, "fill[ing] the arena beyond capacity".  Like I said, I'm confused...

[Ben Rocky '04]

Granted, I couldn't purchase in the student section.  In the side of the arena where guests and townies sit, every section along the length of the rink was filled.  We ended up in section 6, row 4, which is about the equivalent of Sec. J in Lynah.

[jkahn]

If anyone needs Friday lodging, I've got an extra hotel reservation for Friday night only, at the Marriott TownPlace Suites, $71+tax, which is about a 4 to 5 minute walk from the east side of the MSU campus.  I had booked one room for two nights (which I'm using) and one for just Friday, as I wasn't sure if I'd be spending Saturday night visiting friends in Detroit.  Anyway, I'm posting here just in case someone needs the room - let me know and I'll call and get the name changed on the reservation.  Otherwise, I'll just cancel it on Monday before I forget to do so.