By Harry Minium
I shed a few tears last November when several remorseless, giant machines designed to rip brick into shreds began tearing down 82-year-old Foreman Field.
I had so many memories there from the times my dad took me to see the Norfolk Neptunes play to last Sept. 22, when Old Dominion upset Virginia Tech 49-35.
But if I’d known then what I know now, I would have cheered as the old girl came tumbling down.
Kornblau Field at S.B. Ballard Stadium is a magnificent facility. Stadium renderings don’t do it justice. It has to be seen to be truly appreciated.
I watched last Saturday night as ODU’s logistics crew tested the TowneBank Video Board, three ribbon boards and sound system while the football team practiced, the band played and cheerleaders and dance teams did their thing.
I got a sense of what the atmosphere will be like at games.
Here are my 10 favorite things about the stadium that opens at 7 p.m. Saturday when the Monarchs host Norfolk State:
1. I can’t emphasize enough the importance of leaving the tailgate area earlier than usual and making your way inside. The pregame show begins at 6:40 p.m. and it's something you don't want to miss.
You’ll want to find your seats and explore everything around you. Few of you have had the chance see the facility except from the outside.
Kick the tires on the new restrooms, visit the two ODU bookstore outlets and wander around a bit.
Getting there early also shows respect to people such as President John R. Broderick, Stephen Ballard, Barry Kornblau, Dennis Ellmer and others who were so instrumental in building the stadium and who will take part in the ribbon-cutting ceremony.
But the main reason I’m urging you to get there is so that you'll see the pregame show leading up to the team running onto the field. It could rival Virginia Tech’s “Enter Sandman,” and if fans react the way I think they will, it will be intimidating for opponents.
Jason Chandler, ODU’s assistant athletic director of strategic marketing and revenue generation, has sworn me to secrecy about what I saw Saturday night. But trust me, you don’t want to miss it.
2. When I heard music over the sound system for the first time, I wondered if a heavy metal band was playing live.
Given the muffled sounds generated by Foreman Field’s sound system, the experience Saturday night will be akin to a person who’s hard of hearing putting in hearing aids.
The sound system rocks. It’s better than most I’ve heard around the ACC.
A View of S.B. Ballard Stadium a Week Before the Opening Game
3. The TowneBank Video Board is one of those amenities you’ll have to see to believe. It offers videos twice as large as what was shown at Foreman Field and delivers video in HD.
I could see the sweat glistening on the faces of players. It will be a feast for the eyes.
Athletic director Wood Selig said the video board will be used differently than most. Yes, you’ll see live shots and replays of the Monarchs.
But you’ll also highlights from games around the country.
“We want our fans to feel like they’re in their living room,” Selig said.
Where can you find the score? On the stadium’s three ribbon boards. Again, they are a feast for the eyes.
4. ODU fans have often intimidated opponents by making a lot of noise, especially during last season’s win over Virginia Tech. But if you take the 20,532 people who crammed into Foreman Field last season for the victory over the Hokies … well, I’ll let quarterback Steven Williams say it.
“You put that crowd in this stadium and it would have been twice as loud,” he said.
The new stadium is taller than Foreman Field and has two decks, so sound bounces back and forth.
I didn’t really notice the acoustics until Bruce Stewart, ODU’s senior associate athletic director, remarked to me: “Doesn’t the band really sound good?”
It always sounds good, but then I realized it was remarkably louder.
He smiled as I got what his question was intended to convey – that the new stadium is going to be much louder and provide the Monarchs with a stronger home-field advantage.
5. The press box is something I resisted listing, but since this is where I’ll spend most of my time, it had to make my top 5.
The view (photo below) is magnificent, and the press box is among the largest I’ve seen at any level of college football.
6. You’ve got to try some crab cakes.
Monarch Dining put together a taste-testing event for WAVY-TV reporter Symone Davis last week, and Aramark district manager Janet McLaughlin and Chef Robert Patton laid out quite a spread.
Once the tasting was done, I sampled a crab cake slider. And then another. And another.
I was a cook in a seafood restaurant for four years when and am a connoisseur of crab cakes. These are among the best I’ve eaten, and they are guilt-free, as are the French fries – Aramark is using air fryers to cook them.
There are seven new concession stands on the first floor, as well as 38 points of sale elsewhere in the stadium. The menu includes everything for Mexican food to bratwurst with sauerkraut.
Bon appetit.
Minium, Bruce Radar discussing new stadium
7. The tribute to Foreman Field on the east side entrance to the stadium, located between the Williamsburg Gardens and Koch Hall, is a must-see.
A brick façade, with graceful arches and Norfolk city seal, pays tribute to the 82-year-old stadium in which ODU won 47 games and lost just 22, where the Oyster Bowl brought some of college football’s best players to Norfolk and so many legendary high school games were played.
Later this season, a memorial tribute to A.H. Foreman and the stadium’s history will open just inside the east gate.
8. The saying that “there is not a bad seat in the house” has become something of a cliché. But Saturday night, I found that it’s true of S.B. Ballard Stadium.
I journeyed to the far upper end of the northeast side of the stadium and took a video. And while it’s clearly the worst of the nearly 16,000 new sideline seats, the view is spectacular, including the downtown Norfolk skyline in the distance.
View from the worst seat in the house at S.B. Ballard Stadium
9. The restrooms are new, clean and plentiful, unlike the last 10 seasons.
I was there last Friday when the ODU band flushed all 112 toilets on the east side. That was necessary to determine if the plumbing or the exit pipes leading out of the stadium had any leaks. A few were detected and quickly fixed.
I loved watching the kids as they flushed and sang the ODU fight song and the theme from the video game Halo.
10. The ambiance of the stadium is difficult to put into words.
You’ll know what I’m talking about when you walk inside for the first time. The stadium is huge. It only seats about 2,300 more than Foreman Field, but that’s a misleading statistic.
The two levels of seating, and 94-foot-high west side (topped by the press box), makes the stadium look like a big-time facility.
With all due respect to James Madison, Appalachian State, UNC Charlotte and Liberty universities, which have similar-sized facilities, this stadium is better. Coach Bobby Wilder calls it “the finest venue of its size in America.”
ODU should enjoy the amenities they have long deserved with gusto Saturday night.
Contact Minium: hminium@odu.edu