UD Kicks Off 2008 Football Season

It was a gorgeous night for football in Dubuque on Saturday. The Spartans played host to the Rockford Regents under the lights for the first game on the brand new artificial surface of Chalmers Field and the first night game in UD history. The stands were full and there was a lot of excitement for the beginning of this season. Dubuque skunked Rockford last year by a score of 38-0. This year the Spartans kept the tradition alive by whooping up on Rockford 49-7.
I could only stay for the first half of the game before heading back to work the late shift, but I was impressed with what I saw. Very few mistakes from either team and a lot of action and thrills for those on the Dubuque side. The facilities were impressive as well. The scoreboard was my favorite component of the stadium. The graphics on it were amazing. They even played a clip from the movie 300 when the Spartans came onto the field before the game. (300, if you aren't aware, is a recent film about the Battle of Thermopylae, where 300 Spartans (plus volunteers) held their ground despite being far outnumbered by the Persian enemy.) I couldn't believe how fast everything came together for the stadium and wellness center. There is still more work to be done on the indoor facility however.

After the game there was a fireworks display, which I heard was quite a show. UD sure knows how to wow the crowd! I wouldn't count on this for every home game though. We had fireworks for last year's homecoming and I'm hoping we can keep that tradition. One of the fraternities on campus owns a cannon, which was not in attendance last night because it was being restored. But once completed, it is my understanding that this will be fired after every UD touchdown.

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Photos taken by Kevin Bradford