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The minute you exit the expressway or byways around these parts and enter the city
streets of Jonesboro, you know right away that it is the Arkansas State Indians who are
#1 in the hearts of the local folks. "Go Tribe", says the marquee on the local Denny's...
"We Love the Indians" is painted right on the window of a local furniture store. And here
in a town of 55,000 people, a one hour drive from Memphis, it is the Arkansas State
University football program which does battle in the Sun Belt Conference and is the
focal point of pride and joy for Arkansans who call this part of the world home.
Indian Stadium is the home of the ASU Indians, and is nestled on the campus just
north of the city, easy to find just by heading up Stadium Drive. Opened in 1974, the
venue was expanded after the program went to Division !-A in 1991. Seating was
added to bring capacity to over 30,000 seats, a new end zone building opened in 2002
to include modern practice facilities, offices and end zone party decks, as well as a
state of the art video scoreboard. Other than that, the playing field is set below grade,
with sideline and end zone lower bowl seat areas broken up by grassy knolls
emblazoned with the ASU logo, and large upper decks along each sideline, all served
by a bright and spacious single concourse. On the west side is an tall press tower
structure, with a level of indoor premium seating and two press levels.
One walk through the west concourse you can see the banners heralding the
program's winning tradition - although most of the successes have come at Division
1-AA. Winning at the highest level of college athletics has proved elusive, both in the
Big West Conference, and the Sun Belt Conference, where they currently hold
residence.
Yet the program here retains a loyal and hardy bunch of fans, and despite the horrible
weather earlier in the day and being a night game, a pretty decent crowd and a noisy
one at that was on hand.
One of the signature elements here in the seating bowl is something as simple as an
Indian teepee, standing stoically in the southwest corner of the seating bowl, and
occupied by three mascots, two guys and a gal, dressed in full Indian regalia. Each
time the home team made it to the red zone, the mascots came out of the teepee and
glared down onto the field, seemingly to will the team into the end zone. Nice tradition,
eh? But as we found out, the mascot movements were totally random, and had
nothing to do with what was occurring on the field. But wouldn't this be a cool thing to
start!? If the USRT just gave the team a good idea, then we've done our job... have the
mascots do something cool as part of a red zone tradition!
The marching band sits up in the stands on the visitors side, and heralds each first
down with the school's fight song, while the PA announcer asks the fans to chant in
unison "and that means another Indians?"... "First Dowwnnnn!!!" the crowd replies.
Game report - Arkansas State scored three field goals in the first half to take a 9-7
lead, then added a touchdown with a punt return in the 4th quarter, and that was all
they needed to beat the visiting Aggies, 16-7. A last minute interception by ASU sealed
the deal. Hey - give an assist to the USRT Karma!
Special thanks!!!... The Ultimate Sports Road Trip extends props to Gina Bowman,
ASU Media Relations Director for extending us a nice welcome. Gina and her staff
made our visit a very warm one, and we appreciate her assistance. Gina is inducted
into the USRT Hall of Fame with our thanks!
streets of Jonesboro, you know right away that it is the Arkansas State Indians who are
#1 in the hearts of the local folks. "Go Tribe", says the marquee on the local Denny's...
"We Love the Indians" is painted right on the window of a local furniture store. And here
in a town of 55,000 people, a one hour drive from Memphis, it is the Arkansas State
University football program which does battle in the Sun Belt Conference and is the
focal point of pride and joy for Arkansans who call this part of the world home.
Indian Stadium is the home of the ASU Indians, and is nestled on the campus just
north of the city, easy to find just by heading up Stadium Drive. Opened in 1974, the
venue was expanded after the program went to Division !-A in 1991. Seating was
added to bring capacity to over 30,000 seats, a new end zone building opened in 2002
to include modern practice facilities, offices and end zone party decks, as well as a
state of the art video scoreboard. Other than that, the playing field is set below grade,
with sideline and end zone lower bowl seat areas broken up by grassy knolls
emblazoned with the ASU logo, and large upper decks along each sideline, all served
by a bright and spacious single concourse. On the west side is an tall press tower
structure, with a level of indoor premium seating and two press levels.
One walk through the west concourse you can see the banners heralding the
program's winning tradition - although most of the successes have come at Division
1-AA. Winning at the highest level of college athletics has proved elusive, both in the
Big West Conference, and the Sun Belt Conference, where they currently hold
residence.
Yet the program here retains a loyal and hardy bunch of fans, and despite the horrible
weather earlier in the day and being a night game, a pretty decent crowd and a noisy
one at that was on hand.
One of the signature elements here in the seating bowl is something as simple as an
Indian teepee, standing stoically in the southwest corner of the seating bowl, and
occupied by three mascots, two guys and a gal, dressed in full Indian regalia. Each
time the home team made it to the red zone, the mascots came out of the teepee and
glared down onto the field, seemingly to will the team into the end zone. Nice tradition,
eh? But as we found out, the mascot movements were totally random, and had
nothing to do with what was occurring on the field. But wouldn't this be a cool thing to
start!? If the USRT just gave the team a good idea, then we've done our job... have the
mascots do something cool as part of a red zone tradition!
The marching band sits up in the stands on the visitors side, and heralds each first
down with the school's fight song, while the PA announcer asks the fans to chant in
unison "and that means another Indians?"... "First Dowwnnnn!!!" the crowd replies.
Game report - Arkansas State scored three field goals in the first half to take a 9-7
lead, then added a touchdown with a punt return in the 4th quarter, and that was all
they needed to beat the visiting Aggies, 16-7. A last minute interception by ASU sealed
the deal. Hey - give an assist to the USRT Karma!
Special thanks!!!... The Ultimate Sports Road Trip extends props to Gina Bowman,
ASU Media Relations Director for extending us a nice welcome. Gina and her staff
made our visit a very warm one, and we appreciate her assistance. Gina is inducted
into the USRT Hall of Fame with our thanks!
INDIAN
STADIUM
Jonesboro,
Arkansas
November
11,
2004
Utah State
Aggies
at
Arkansas
State
Indians
STADIUM
Jonesboro,
Arkansas
November
11,
2004
Utah State
Aggies
at
Arkansas
State
Indians
| Jonesboro, Arkansas |
Indian Stadium