On November 18, 2011, I got a discounted ticket for the Iowa State-Oklahoma State game, with no expectation of a close matchup. I was proven very, very wrong. It turned out to be the high point of the Paul Rhoads era. That ticket was in Section O of Jack Trice Stadium.
This year, ISU opened its long-muttered-about South End Zone expansion. As part of that, the entire east side of the stadium was re-numbered and re-lettered. These assignments had not changed since the stadium opened in 1975.
I do not think that should have happened, for continuity reasons just like my four-year-old (!) blog post has run into. The new addition does flow seamlessly around to connect the sides of the stadium — so well, in fact, that I hit the wrong stairwell a couple times. But the sections could have been numbered and lettered SA, SB, S1, S2, etc., and cleared up past and future confusion.
Now Section O is the south-east-side top section closest to the “End Zone Club”. Here’s what it looked like from a new camera when Iowa was pinned against its own end zone and C.J. Beathard was tackled to set up a third-and-21 from the 6. (The very next play was a 48-yard pass.)
If ISU loses to Kansas, or even while ISU is playing Kansas, let’s just say there may be plenty of room for people in that section to stretch their legs.