Preparing the house: About 2,600 people make game days at Beaver Stadium possible

Bud Yohe said he’s “seen it all” when it comes to people trying to sneak contraband into Beaver Stadium during Penn State home football games.

But nothing takes the cake more than the time someone told him they used a colostomy bag for health reasons, when they were actually using it to drink alcohol from, he said.

But Beaver Stadium is a dry facility.

“People try it all, but that was one of the more unique things we’ve got,” Yohe said. “Sometimes we get someone who tries to sneak in and we immediately escort them right back out. ... We usually know all the tricks.”

Yohe said people attempting to gain access into the stadium without a ticket only happens “once or twice” a year at the gate he manages.

Violators can be arrested for trespassing, Yohe said.

Yohe is the gate supervisor at Gate E.

It’s a job he’s had for about six of the nine years he’s worked as gate security at the stadium.

And it allows him to oversee nearly everything that happens at the gate and help manage a team who scans tickets and checks bags.

Gate E underwent an entrance transformation after the game against Rutgers on Sept. 19.

“There was a lot of pedestrian congestion, and we needed to figure out a way to make the foot traffic a little easier,” he said. “People trying to access other gates or other areas of the facility were getting jammed near our gate outside.”

Stadium crews set up perimeters from cattle chutes that formed several lines for people entering the stadium through that gate.

So far, Yohe said, “it’s working better than before.”

Athletics spokesman Jeff Nelson said stadium staff might form similar entrances at other gates to help crowd control.

Gates are open to any ticket holder, except for Gate A that is solely a student entrance.

And this season, Nelson said Beaver Stadium averages about 99,000 fans a game.

But despite the chaos, Yohe said managing the arrival of patrons to the stadium is a job he loves.

“I love it,” Yohe said. “It’s my way of interacting and taking care of our fans, and showing hospitality to opposing fans. We’re the first people they see (when) entering the stadium and we do our best to give them all respect.”

Fellow gate manager Pat Leone shares a similar joy of the job but from a different perspective.

He supervises Gate A and interacts with the Penn State student body.

Just before 10 a.m. on Saturday, Leone stood behind a closed Gate A where students were lined up.

Leone yelled “We are,” and the crowd replied, “Penn State.” He did that three times before running to the gate and manually opening it as the students charged the stands.

Gate A is open a half hour earlier than the rest of the gates for students who participate in Nittanyville.

Nittanyville is the tent city erected outside Gate A at Beaver Stadium where students camp out a few days before Saturday games. Those students are allowed access into Beaver Stadium at 10 a.m. for a noon kickoff.

“I try to get them motivated before the game,” Leone said. “They’re already enthusiastic about being here, but I’m just having a little more fun. I’ve been doing it for years.”

Leone and Yohe are among about 2,600 people that it takes to make home game day possible, said Associate Athletic Director for Facilities and Operation Mark Bodenschatz.

“There are a lot of people responsible for pulling this day off,” Bodenschatz said. “And they do it with a serious passion.”

Pregame tradition

For noon games, pregame planning starts at 5:30 a.m. with a gameday operations meeting in the media room at Beaver Stadium.

Representatives from stadium operations, police, parking, emergency management, field maintenance and more gather for a pregame briefing, followed by at least two more meetings before kickoff.

Department representatives including parking attendants are then dispatched to their location after the first morning session.

State College resident Cliff Way and his cousin Gary Way, of Spring Mills, have been working in parking for a combined 99 years. They’re now quadrant supervisors who oversee about 50 parking attendants each.

Cliff Way said he started 46 years ago after his father, Cliff Way Sr., got him involved. Way now oversees six lots with more than 5,000 parking spaces.

“After all this time, we become experts and know our way around,” Way said.

He created reference maps for attendants who need to show drivers where their parking spot is located.

But the job sometimes comes with frustrated and confused drivers.

“You just learn to use certain tact with the individuals and try to diffuse the situation,” Way said. “If things get out of hand, we can call in for help, but we usually know how to handle it.”

If all fails, that’s where Justin Frear and Tommy Venturino come in.

The duo, who called themselves “The Rat Patrol,” from the 1960s television show, drive around the parking lots in a covered cart, helping with traffic congestion and settling situations.

They’re also the eyes and ears of the parking staff if there are additional problems.

The communication among them, and other parking supervisors and attendants, comes by two-way radios.

Issues typically include parking space neighbors who complain about each other, driver and traffic-related complaints, fights and public intoxication among tailgaters.

But a recent bigger issue is the use of generators for recreational vehicles.

Frear said he’s been a part of fighting the “generator battle.”

Some RV users use generators but keep them wrapped in a tarp and stored under their RVs while running.

That causes a carbon dioxide problem.

“We work with (emergency management) in these cases,” Frear said. “They want to be warm but are not necessarily doing it in a safe way.”

An emergency management team is assembled at Beaver Stadium and accessible for all situations.

That includes fire officials, EMT and ambulance assistance and law enforcement from the state; Penn State; State College; Ferguson, Patton and Spring townships; and Bellefonte police departments.

Penn State police Chief Tyrone Parham said a police office is operated out of Beaver Stadium and is accessible to patrons in and outside of the stadium.

The unit houses a surveillance area that transmits video to on-site monitors from hundreds of cameras located around the stadium and its parking lots.

It also includes one large holding room and three smaller holding rooms to detain fans who violate rules or break the law.

“I’d like to say we don’t have a problem, but it’s not uncommon for these rooms to be standing room only,” Parham said. “It’s especially busy when there is a big night game were people had all day to drink and find themselves in particular situations.”

And though law enforcement officials are on hand, other staff hardly goes without work and problem-solving training, Bodenschatz said.

Preseason planning and improvement

There may be pregame planning for the thousands of game day workers, but that doesn’t come before preseason planning.

“We backtrack a little,” Bodenschatz said. “We look at last year’s season and see how we can work on the good and improve on things that didn’t work. We hire people and continue to train them appropriately.”

But the number of gameday staff briefly dropped, Bodenschatz said.

With new policies that make it “harder to recruit” workers, Bodenschatz said the university supplements workers from Landmark Event Staffing Services to provide them with security guards, ushers and gatekeepers.

“Up until three years ago, we did it all in-house,” Bodenschatz said. “That changed after (Jerry) Sandusky (scandal). We had background checks before (the) Sandusky (incident), but have them more so now.”

To help improve gameday operations for staff and patrons, Bodenschatz also said several changes were made this year — with its biggest amendment coming from traffic management.

Support assistant Amy Mann came up with the idea to change parking passes to ones that dangle from vehicle rearview mirrors. Before, it was a pass that stuck to the inside-left corner of a vehicle’s front window.

“We think this works a little better,” Bodenschatz said. “They’re easier to see for those directing traffic. When we met with them (traffic management), we found that the sticker parking passes weren’t cutting it.”

Though unsure of the next immediate improvement, Bodenschatz said two improvement teams meet the Monday and Thursday after home games to debrief. They include an Intercollegiate Athletics Public Safety team and a core team of about 75 coordinators from within ICAP.

“We’re always thinking ahead,” Bodenschatz said. “We have intensive training, and improvement plans, and action items for the next game, but need to work collaboratively as a unit within the university and the (patrons) to make sure where providing the best experience possible.”

This story was originally published October 31, 2015 at 11:37 PM with the headline "Preparing the house: About 2,600 people make game days at Beaver Stadium possible."