Manhattan, Aggieville getting set for K-State’s big game with Auburn

Bill Snyder wasn’t the only person in Manhattan preparing for Auburn this week.

The Kansas State University football coach would admire the work ethic of others getting ready for Thursday night’s nationally televised game, which is considered the Wildcats’ biggest home non-conference football game in decades.

On Tuesday, Ryan Bramhall, owner of Tubby’s Sports Bar in Aggieville, used a power drill to drive screws into plywood planks that will serve as a bar along the sidewalk. Behind him, workers were installing flat-screen televisions. Others were trying to hook up a projector and screen in the rear patio.

“We’re trying to rush it to get it open for the weekend and get it ready by Thursday,” Bramhall said.

Across the street from Aggieville, Jennifer Fritchen sat in her office inside the new Bluemont Hotel making last-minute arrangements to prepare for its opening.

Construction on the hotel, at the corner of Manhattan and Bluemont, began in July, and the opening was set for Oct. 1.

“When we saw what was happening with the interest in this game, we pushed our time frame up a few weeks,” said Fritchen, the Bluemont’s general manager.

Extra crews and cleaning staff were brought in to make it happen. Workers are running on fumes, she said. But the Bluemont will open on time, with all 112 rooms occupied by Thursday night, she said.

For the past three months, the hotel has had a wait list of more than 60 people, Fritchen said. When somebody comes off the list, somebody else goes right on.

“I’ve worked in Manhattan in the hotels for 15 years, and only in a couple of other circumstances can I remember ever having this much hype over a game and this much traveler interest in getting into a property,” she said.

Fifth-ranked Auburn – located in Auburn, Ala. – is K-State’s first nonconference opponent with a top-five ranking since Penn State in 1969. The game will be televised nationally on ESPN at 6:30 p.m.

Tickets to 50,000-seat Bill Snyder Family Stadium have been sold out for months, and all hotel rooms in Manhattan are booked, according to Karen Hibbard, director of the Manhattan Convention and Visitors Bureau.

Aggieville’s birthday, too

As if the game weren’t enough, Aggieville – the popular district of bars, restaurants and shops near campus – will celebrate its 125th anniversary on Saturday. The day will feature a street fair, auto show and dance.

A Thursday night football game isn’t ideal for merchants, who count on a handful of home-game Saturdays every autumn to spike business. They are hoping the football fans who show up on Thursday will call in sick on Friday and stick around for the celebration.

“We don’t exactly know what to expect, with it being on a Thursday night,” said Jeff Denney, owner of Auntie Mae’s Parlor bar in Aggieville, who says his business triples on football Saturdays. “I think it will still be a good day for business. Probably not as good as a Saturday.

“But I think people are pretty pumped up to take a shot at Auburn. Auburn’s a big name, and around here, with Coach Snyder on the sideline, you always think you got a pretty good chance.”

Randy Martin is another Aggieville businessman who is a member of the Aggieville Business Association board. He wonders about the impact of a Thursday night kickoff on business.

“But I guess in this case, the opportunity to play a team the caliber of Auburn, you probably would play that game at 6 a.m. on a Tuesday,” he said.

The crowd is expected to be so large that K-State issued a news release earlier in the week asking fans to arrive early for the 6:30 p.m. kickoff. Kansas State Police, the Riley County Police Department and the Kansas Highway Patrol will monitor traffic flow as fans wend their way toward the stadium.

Cautions for traveling fans

People driving into town are cautioned that school-zone speed limits will be enforced. Schools will be letting out Thursday afternoon.

Fans who to drive to the game from Wichita should be aware that road construction has closed U.S. 77 in Herington. A detour sign has been posted directing traffic from the south to go east on U.S. 56 to K-149, north to K-4, then back west to U.S. 77.

More than a half-dozen motor homes from Alabama had already pulled into a 13-acre lot across from the stadium by Tuesday morning, full of Auburn Tiger fans. Steve Frazier, who manages the lot for K-State, said he expects 100 RVs from Alabama for the game.

“I’ve been getting calls since it was scheduled in December,” he said.

Tiger fans are as excited about the game as Wildcat fans.

Paul and Melinda Taylor of Jasper, Ala., drove their 45-foot RV into Manhattan on Tuesday.

“It’s going to be a big game. It’s a turning point in our season,” Taylor said. “I think K-State’s got a good team. They’re going to be hard to beat here at home.”

Jan Timmerman, of Cottonwood, Ala., said she and her husband used their annual one-week vacation to drive to the game. Outside their RV — parked overlooking Kimball Avenue, which runs past the stadium – they had set out Auburn chairs, Auburn tents and Auburn flags. A large inflatable Auburn Tiger loomed over the avenue.

They see the game as pivotal for their Tigers.

“We’re very excited. We hope Kansas State will be No. 5 next week, and we’ll be above it,” she said.

As she talked, a car passed by on Kimball and the driver shouted an obscenity at Timmerman and her friend, Sarah Hall. Timmerman said it was the second vulgar comment they had received since they had set up camp.

“They blow their horns and they yell, ‘Go Wildcats,’ ” she said. “But that’s what we expect. That’s what they’re supposed to do.

“We like the fans.”

This story was originally published September 17, 2014 at 8:17 PM with the headline "Manhattan, Aggieville getting set for K-State’s big game with Auburn."