2019 Experience #2: Waldo Stadium-Western Michigan University

Enter Rivalry Weekend! College Rivalries are some of the most exciting experiences in all of sports. While the premier Rivalry in the state of Michigan is between the University of Michigan and Michigan State, there is another rivalry that gets the State hyped on a Saturday: Western Michigan and Central Michigan. The thing that i believe makes this rivalry so great is just how organic it is. Unlike UM-MSU, WMU-CMU is a rivalry that consists of two schools whose student bodies are primarily made of students born and raised the the state of Michigan. The WMU game day experience is somewhat similar to CMU’s (Check the previous post). The most distinct difference in the tailgate part of game day is that WMU’s parking lots are spread out. Unlike CMU that had two main lots for the tailgate; one for students and one for family/casual fans, WMU has about 4 to 5 different lots where students and fans alike can go wild till game time. There is one particular parking lot that is designated for students but it is rather small and can even feel claustrophobic at times. The tailgate part of the game day experience definitely swings in favor of CMU in my opinion as 2 larger parking lots beat out 4-5 smaller, more congested ones. So far, CMU-1, WMU-0. Where WMU excels is its actual game experience. As a CMU student i would love to see some of the things WMU did (Blackout, Shirt giveaway, and just an overall better presentation and College-Like atmosphere) brought to game days in Mt. Pleasant. Nice restrooms (for a college stadium), and fantastic food options make the Waldo Stadium game day experience a pretty darn good one! CMU-1, WMU-1. Unfortunately for this Chippewa, WMU put a spanking on CMU and won by a score of 31-15. CMU-1, WMU-2. Broncos Win this round.