As hordes of fans flocked to Sun Devil Stadium for a free ticket to a Monday Night Football game, ASU and Tempe police deployed additional officers for crowd and traffic control.
Students scrambled for parking as tailgaters and fans filled lots near campus to watch the matchup of the San Diego Chargers and Miami Dolphins.
ASU police, anticipating a massive crowd for the 7 p.m. game, deployed approximately 85 officers to assist stadium employees in taking donations and managing entrance into the stadium, Lt. John Sutton said. Approximately 70 officers work regularly scheduled Cardinals games at Sun Devil Stadium, he added.
Tempe police deployed 50 officers to patrol the area around the stadium and Mill Avenue, said Officer Jeff Lane. Approximately 30 officers patrol the area during a Sunday Cardinals game, he said.
An additional 30 to 40 officers controlled traffic around the stadium, while patrol squads and extra foot patrol officers were held over from their regular shifts, Lane said.
"We don't anticipate any problems, but we have uniformed officers waiting in the event that something negative occurs," he added.
NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue's decision to move the game from San Diego's Qualcomm Stadium to Tempe created "competing interests" for ASU officers, Sutton said.
"There will likely be some minor detractions from normal campus police operations," he said. "People tailgating in Lot 59 on a Monday morning creates a more than minor interference with normal school activity."
Business junior Paul Natale didn't let normal school activity interfere with his plan to be the first in line for tickets.
Natale and art sophomore Michael Thompson arrived at Sun Devil Stadium at 10:30 p.m. on Sunday.
"My buddy called and said, 'Let's go to the game,' so here we are," Natale said. "We're going just to say we did. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity."
Natale and Thompson camped in their pickup trucks, at one point suspending a couch between the two to rest during their 18-hour wait for the gates to open at 4:30 p.m. Monday.
By 10:30 a.m. Monday, Natale and Thompson were calling friends for a mid-morning beer and bratwurst delivery.
"We figure we'll just barbecue and hang out," Thompson said. "It's better than going to class."
Though Natale and Thompson were first in line, they weren't guaranteed 50-yard line seats, said Ed Norris, a stadium security guard.
"Tickets are distributed on a first-come, first-served basis, but there's really no point to waiting in line," Norris said. "You could end up anywhere in the stadium, whether you got here at 7:00 this morning or 7:00 tonight."
While Natale and Thompson were undeterred by the possibility of seats in the upper deck, several fans were unhappy with Tagliabue's decision to give away tickets.
Alex Schwartz, a biology junior at the University of California at San Diego and lifelong Miami Dolphins fan, said people who paid for tickets should be guaranteed good seats.
"I paid $500 for seats at Qualcomm," Schwartz said. "I'm only going to be refunded $60, the face value of the ticket. Take that, plus the drive here from San Diego, and it's costing me quite a bit to be a Dolphins fan.
"It's worth it, though, I flew to Miami when Dan Marino retired," Schwartz said. "I'd fly anywhere for the Dolphins."
As the line outside Sun Devil Stadium lengthened, Tempe traffic worsened.
Tailgaters and road-weary fans replaced open spaces, and some students who normally park in metered lots close to campus were pushed to the outer limits of Lot 59 or asked to pay as much as $20 to park.
Psychology junior Scott Herweg didn't have any trouble parking on campus, but he said traffic seemed much more congested than usual.
"Lot 59 was pretty crowded when I got here around 3 p.m.," Herweg said. "I got lucky and parked at a meter off of Forest Street."
Parking attendants at the National Guard Armory on College Street charge $5 for all-day parking on school days. Students who have an active military ID card park for free.
On Monday morning, however, signs posted at the entrance to the parking lot advertised a $20 fee to park at the armory.
National Guard spokeswoman Judy Kioski said the military rents the parking lot to companies that set parking prices. Those companies then donate a portion of the proceeds to families of servicemen who are fighting overseas.
"The military does not determine parking prices," Kioski said. She did not know by whom the parking lot was currently being rented.
People who parked in ASU decal lots and structures without a decal would not be issued tickets, according to the Sun Devil Athletics Web site.
ASU Parking and Transit Services could not be reached for comment.
Reach the reporter at kelly.vaughn@asu.edu.
