Spartan stadium -- Tickets -- Traditions -- Tailgating & parking -- About EL: Grand Rivering -- Bars & Food --
Where to stay -- What about Lansing?

Welcome to our lovely town, the city of East Lansing, in the heart of the state of Michigan. Below the ES has first provided a map to orient you, and you can overlay this with your own Google Earth map of East Lansing. The ES then talks about his experiences of Spartan game days over the past 20 years, including what to expect, where to eat/drink and stay, and where to go... we hope this helps make your visit to East Lansing enjoyable. Just don't leave town with a W unless you are a Spartan.

Maps

You can cut the mid-Michigan area into squares, with Lansing on the West, East Lansing to the North, Michigan State to the South, and Okemos to the East (Yahoo map). Of particular interest is how Grand River Avenue separates East Lansing from MSU... and going West, it forks off to Michigan Avenue, which ends directly into the State Capitol in Lansing, and the downtown Lansing bar district. US-127 separates Lansing from East Lansing. Bottom line - it is tough to get lost. But, here is a Google Earth map anyways (at right, click to enlarge), with points of interest -- all our discussed below.

More about East Lansing from wikipedia.

Spartan Stadium:

The stadium is kind of an old concrete bucket; it was improved to create the lower bowl back in post World War I at the same time as so many other college football stadiums in the Golden Age of college football. In the 1950s, as MSU entered the Big Ten much to scUM's chagrin, it added the upper deck to get much of what you see today. In 2006, Spartan Stadium opened a $65 million renovation including the rich seats, new press box, alumni and development offices, and the like. It took a bit of political wrangling to get wine and beer sold in the luxury suites, basically by noting the "physical separation" between the new stadium improvement and the old stadium.

But, who wants to sit in those stuffy luxury suites anyways? Would you not rather be with the raucous crowd below? The Stadium can get loud, and fairly deafening, when the Yellow Bellies and Leprechauns come to town. The fact that there is an upper deck on top of a concrete slab helps to enhance to decibels, especially on 4th downs or in the 4th quarter. If we're playing the Yellow Bellies or the Leprechauns, don't expect to sit much if you want to watch the game... most of the time, you'll be standing for 3 hours in excitement of the action. MSU fans still haven't figured out how to color-coordinate as well as, say Ohio State or Wisconsin.... Then again, RED certainly stands out better than GREEN, especially in night games.

Bathrooms are plentiful on the upper deck, especially on the West side where they made the $65 million improvement... if you're a guy. If you're a gal, it's better than it used to be, but not great... however, name me a college stadium with great bathroom facilities for women. Title IX never got that far. If you really need to pee, you better do it on a TV timeout or after a score... you may wait quite a while at halftime, especially if you are in the lower bowl.

Tickets:

Michigan State Spartan fans are gluttons for punishment, evidenced by the fact they have  done a fair job gobbling up tickets to most football games since 1994, when Nick Saban first came to town.  The stadium seats 75,005, including new luxury boxes that HAVEN’T done such a good job selling out.  Still, these days, it is rare to see less than 72,000 in the stands.  Pretty damn good for the most consistently average and underperforming team in the conference over the past 10 years.  Guaranteed sellouts every year are for our Homecoming game (late September, early October), scUM, Notre Dame, and when Ohio State comes a-knockin’.  We’ve seen sellouts for the most part when that dottering old man, JoePa, brings his walker to East Lansing. 

That said, you can get your tickets online by calling 1-800-GOSTATE, or by visiting www.msuspartans.com.  Tickets are $46/game this year.  Individual tickets are for sale online for all games except Notre Dame and Ohio State, which are already sold out. 

The ES has a link to selling game tickets via a schedule on the front page – the prices go from reasonable to outrageous, through TicketsNow.  You can also find your typical scalpers walking outside on gameday... but it can get pretty cold as the season wears on.  You can tell who the scalpers are: they have a big sign around their neck that says “NEED TICKETS” while they are holding about 5-10 in each hand.  Or, you can yell out “I need a ticket” and likely you will find a nice Spartan alum who will give it to you for the published rate... or less.  Get a little moxy in you, and you;’ll save some beer money.

Spartan Stadium traditions: What the hell are they saying or doing?

• "Go Green, Go White" -- our #1 chant throughout the game, you will hear one section of the stadium yell, "Go Green" and the other "Go White." If you can't hear yourself think, it means we're kicking your ass.
• "Beat Em Up, Beat Em Up... Rah, Rah, Rah" -- our #2 chant, this one is led first by the band.
• "Spartans - What is your profession?" -- our third down chant, inspired by the movie, 300. The crowd grunts three times afterward, all fired up.
• "First down, bitch" -- this one is the more controversial chant. Matter of fact, there has been some research on it from a student affairs group in the College of Education. Basically, if the students are yelling this chant, we are really kicking your tail and you're probably on you're way home, anyways. Still, we could do a bit better and clean this up.
• The wave -- Finally, if we are really, really, really stomping on you... then that means we are bored and we will start doing the wave. Actually, MSU's wave is pretty damn good when it gets rolling, which again, is only when we are up by about 28 points in the third quarter.
• Football toss/fan toss - Whenever a football gets in the stands, it is up to the fans to turn around and throw it up and over the top and out of the stadium. The cops try to stop it, but if the timing is right, it gets over the top... Similarly, we'll hurl a fan up over our heads and take the fan up a few rows.

Tailgating 7-9-1 and parking:

Tailgating is fun everywhere, but it ain’t as fun as it used to be here in East Lansing, thanks to some idiotic students.  It used to be fun to watch them (and to participate) in wild and crazy drinking games... but, a few bad apples can spoil the bunch.  A rape incident during a tailgate before the Notre Dame game in 2004 led to a crackdown on the type of activities.   

Tailgating times/Parking rates:

Tailgating will be allowed up to three hours after the conclusion of each game.

Parking is $10 on campus during game days. Tailgating at Party Central costs you $15. If you do have that in hand, you better get there early and you may have to wait in line for up to an hour behind other cars burning $4/gallon gas while idling. All the other spots, the wait usually ain't that bad. But, during the big games, all the on-campus lots noted on the map will fill up an hour after they open.If you want to park off-campus, try to find a spot in a neighborhood north of campus, with 2+ hours or longer of parking. It may be a bit of a walk, but it's free. The ES always parks in the northern neighborhood, if he ain't tailgating. Plus, the ES can always hit the Peanut Barrel on the way back to his car.

Remember, where you park is where you have to leave... the deeper you enter the tailgating pit, the longer it will take to leave. The ES has waited 2 hours in post-game traffic after leaving a game parked in Party Central. For that amount of time, you may as well keep tailgating, partying and just pass out in your car.

Tailgating culture:

You know, tailgating can also be cultural – let’s break down the scene with several fun monikers to describe the style and intensity at different locations. These descriptions are reflected on the Google map on the top of this page... 

• Party Central = Tennis Courts (south of the Stadium).  Not for the virgin eyes. 
• No Alcohol = Munn Field (west of Stadium). For virgin livers.
• Good Times = Breslin/Jenison/Central Campus.  Solid alumni/student interaction.
• The RVers = The Spread (east of Stadium).  Alumni with cocktails and massive food spreads.
• North campus = Younger alumni/good party crowd (across the river, north of Stadium).  Lot of space to hurl that pigskin over nice green lawns.

Open Container Ordinance:

Spartan fans are reminded of the "open container" ordinance which bans open containers of alcohol on campus and in all public areas of campus buildings. However, on home football game days, enforcement of the ordinance will be suspended on campus for those of legal drinking age, during the hours parking lots are open for tailgating. Munn Field remains alcohol-free, as do the pedestrian areas immediately adjacent to Spartan Stadium (this is not enforced) as well as all public areas of campus buildings.

About East Lansing: Grand Rivering

All along the edge of campus and north to East Lansing, Grand River Avenue is the "hub" of activity, nightlife, food and shopping in the area. Shopping includes everything you would expect to see... but add in some art/craft shops (Mackerel Sky, Kirabo, Saper Galleries), the best smoke shop in the state of Michigan (Campbell's Smoke Shop), ice cream (Melting Moments), book and coffee shops... and, of course, bars. Lots of bars.

Downtown East Lansing lands the Marriott Hotel, and it is surrounded by bars and shops on its south, east, and west. North is the student housing district, a few sororities... oh yeah, and the Catholic church.

Notably, there IS a blighted portion of the town right at the junction of MSU and EL, right across from the MSU Student Union. You can't miss it. However, there is relief, as the city of East Lansing recently approved (June 2008) to spend roughly $125 million to create a new hotel, theatre, condominiums, townhomes, parking structure, restaurant, and other businesses connected from downtown to Valley Park. Welcome to downtown East Lansing - this area may just be a mess through summer 2010.

The bars

What else to do? There has been plenty of write-ups about the East Lansing bar scene (here, here, and here). It helps for the riot scene. The ES prefers the dive bars, which would be: The Peanut Barrel, The Riv, Crunchy's. I'm getting older, so now Beggars' Banquet is in play (Big Bob and the ES love their Pims & Soda). Always loved the Riv (where the ES roared with the crowd when Appy State beat scUM).

Closest bars to Spartan Stadium

Closest to Spartan Stadium is KC's Lounge and Harrison Roadhouse. The ES approves of both.

Best food in East Lansing

Must we eat? Yes, we must. There are several good blogs that writeup restaurants in Mid-Michigan. Check out: Midmichigandining.com, Eat! Lansing, and Lansingfoodnews

The ES recommends...

Mexican - El Azteco. Get the cottage cheese/jalapeno dip. It is to die for; it has the only bar on a roof in the city of East Lansing.

Hamburger/Bar Food - Peanut Barrel (on Grand River). Consistently voted among the best burgers in the mid-Michigan area for many, many years. If good weather, it has by far the best patio view in all of mid-Michigan. Read a great review at midmichigandining.com

Fine dining - Either the State Room in the Kellogg Center on the MSU Campus (Harrison Road; it IS the nation's foremost hospitality school) or up on the north side of town by where the ES lives is the All Seasons Bistro, now probably the best restaurant in mid-Michigan.

Chinese - Charlie Kang's (on Grand River). For year's it has cooked up the finest Chinese food in the region since the ES was an undergrad. It is an East Lansing institution.

Japanese - Omi Sushi (on MAC just off Grand River).

Most fun decent meal - go to Beggars Banquet (on Abbot just off Grand River). The food there has historically been pretty good and eclectic, and there is an odd combination of students, professors, politicos, and beatnicks. And, a GREAT bar.

Where to stay:

The Marriott hotel in downtown East Lansing is in the hub of nightlife. That said, the Kellogg Center on the campus of MSU has the only bar on campus, "K.C.'s". Both are a short walk to Spartan Stadium... and both will likely be sold out for every home football game unless you call a month before the season begins. There are plenty of other hotels in the area, if you are looking for cheap cheap then think of the Super 8 East Lansing Inn (many a time has the ES stayed in Room 222, the largest room in the hotel) or the Howard Johnson's. There actually is a bed and breakfast right downtown East Lansing, behind the Peanut Barrel (Wild Goose Inn). Otherwise, you're on your own via hotels.com; and not the ES Hotel.

What about Lansing?

Lansing is an interesting city as capitol of a state with a decrepit manufacturing base. I've been here for years, and seen it change drastically - when the ES was in school in the late 80s, the city used to have strip bars nearly all the way up to the front door of the state capitol. Historically, it hasn't been much. It is a blue-collar, working town. Currently, although Michigan is in an economic downturn, millions of dollars are being poured into downtown Lansing to boost up its cultural setting and nightlife. Give it a few years, but there is a buzz that a boom is coming. And, it's real.

That said, the bar scene is FAR BETTER than average -- pubs just across the border from East Lansing, Dagwood's (an MSU/Lansing institution, great burgers, cheap beer) and Mac's Bar (punk bands, live music, cheap beer) are top notch blue collar pubs. Driving straight down Michigan Avenue west from East Lansing toward the state capitol, you will eventually run into a bevvy of bars: Moriarty's and Stober's are as blue collar as you get, frequented by line workers. As is Art's Bar (best pizza in city of Lansing) just two blocks away near the corner of Pennsylvania and Kalamazoo. Further up, you'll run into 621 and the Exchange, with your professional hotties. And, if you need the clothes off, you can head just one door down from the Exchage to Omar's for Lansing's premier topless bar, just three blocks from the State Capitol building (a $75 million historical renovation in 1990 makes it a national landmark).

Old Town Lansing won the Governor's award for the first "Cool City" a few years ago, and it is a restored, hip cultural district just north of downtown Lansing, with a few pubs (ES prefers the Unicorn Tavern). Downtown Lansing/Washington Avenue is in the midst of the center of the boom -- with bars aplenty as well.

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