THE MOST SCENIC STADIUM IN AMERICA: THE Lavell Edwards Stadium
As a true fan of college football, I truly love experiencing any college football stadium. This past weekend, I was able to soak in the sights, sounds, smells, and history of Lavell Edwards Stadium in Provo, Utah for the first time. Let me tell you that the BYU fans and community love the football game the most, but I think the football gameday festivities located west of the stadium on Canyon Rd are probably a very close second to most of the fans. I arrived early enough to see both the “Cougar walk” and “Hog Walk” before the game and being a naïve spectator did not realize I was in the middle of the “cougar walk” when it was about to begin. You see, there was a giant screen set up to watch other football games, and the one showing happened to be Ole Miss/ Auburn which was my biggest wager of the day (Auburn +15.5). Auburn was down 14-0 early so not the best start for my investment, although they dug in and showed the fight I knew they would and in the end covered for me! So, I’m staring at the screen semi oblivious to where I was standing when a BYU fan came over to chat. After a few small talk pleasantries, he explained the Cougar walk and in the nicest way invited me to watch alongside his family. Looking back, he could have said, “get out of the way dumbass” but that’s not how BYU operates. To top it all off, this same gentleman instructed me where to stand to shake Kalani Sitake’s hand and sure enough, he was the last to walk the line and we shared an ever so brief “dab up.” One of the many highlights of the day.
The Hog walk was less climatic since they were the visiting team, but I did spend about 5 minutes meeting several family members of top 15 overall draft prospect Drew Sanders.
Most were from Oregon and were very excited to see him play on the same side of the country. Drew, a transfer from Alabama is an absolute tank and should make an impact on an NFL roster next year.
I mean, the picture says it all: scenic, old school, college football. The concourse smelled sweet like a county fair funnel cake but turns out it was the famous maple frosted “cougar tails” being cooked to perfection. This is basically a loaf of bread that’s frosted and tastes like a donut, so be prepared to share this very reasonably priced gameday treat. There was one smell missing from the concourse. A smell all sports fans recognize in older stadiums. A smell that takes me back to going to games and literally asking my dad if someone peed their pants because the smell reminded me of pee. We all know this smell to be old spilled beer that has seeped into the concrete and is just a part of the stadium now. However, Lavell Edwards Stadium is a dry stadium so the foul smell of old beer was replaced with the sweet aroma of baked goods and ice cream which is not a bad trade off in my book. I will say that I did miss the ritual of sipping a couple of beers while enjoying a game, but I respect the family atmosphere created because of the lack of alcohol. One Arkansas fan two rows up from me was drinking rum (clearly from the smell) and a BYU fan asked them to put a lid on it because the strong smell was so noticeable.
Lavell Edwards puts a strong emphasis on always creating an exciting but also a family friendly environment and it works. I mean the entire stadium singing the fight song and national anthem in unison, to the stadium staff delivering free ice cream to all of the visiting family and fans of Arkansas in the North west corner of the stadium, and the overall friendliness of BYU just felt so small town and pure. The view of the Wasatch range during all of this was just the cherry on top.
“Welcome to Lavell Edwards Stadium. The most scenic stadium in America.” – PA Announcer. Not a lie, not an understatement and I would add most friendly and one of the most energetic to that list. This stadium is worth the trip!!
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