November 11, 2023
Homewood Field (Capacity: 8,500)
Baltimore, MD
Johns Hopkins Blue Jays vs McDaniel Green Terror
Final Score: 58 – 7
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A rare visit to a Division III stadium came here in Baltimore at a well-known university. The Charm City is the 30th largest in the country with a population of 621,000 and is located in Northeast Maryland on the Patapsco River (which leads into the Chesapeake Bay). This section of the river forms a harbor around Baltimore and it is this attractive Inner Harbor that defines the city. Not too far north of downtown is Johns Hopkins University, a top school in the country that is renowned for their medical program. Named after the philanthropist who donated millions to establish the university in the 1800s, there continues to be significant research done here. Athletically, the Blue Jays have been playing football since 1882 and they’ve been pretty good in recent times. As a long-time member of the Centennial Conference at the Division III level, Hopkins has an enrollment much larger than all of the other smaller private schools. Thus, they have generally dominated as the Jays have won or shared 12 of the last 14 conference titles. Johns Hopkins has also been really good on the National Scene as well with 10 playoff appearance and they are going again this season as the Blue Jays went undefeated during the regular season. The farthest advancement came in 2018 when they got to the Semifinals, losing to that school you always see on the scroll ticker in December: Mount Union. Homewood Field is their home stadium and this historic site has been hosting football games since 1907.
Prestige Ranking: 2.5 out of 5
Location
The Homewood campus is in the Charles Village neighborhood, which is about 3 miles north of Downtown. This is a diverse and generally favorable area to be. It is filled with many unique, well-maintained row houses, while closer to the school, Hopkins has taken over a lot of the area along nearby Charles and even St Paul Street. Here, you’ll find student housing and mixed-use development that includes some restaurants. On the other side of campus is the neighborhood of Hampton. Home of the “Hon” culture made famous in the play/movie “Hairspray”, this is Baltimore’s quirkiest neighborhood and 36th Street (The Ave) is the place to experience it all. Johns Hopkins is worth walking around as the campus is nice and has it’s share of historic buildings. The Baltimore Museum of Art is nearby and so is the Homewood Estate, the house for which the campus was named. Don’t do the tour here though as it was the biggest waste of 15 minutes for $10. To reach Baltimore and the attractions of the Inner Harbor, it doesn’t take long by car.
Location Ranking: 6.5 out of 10
Accessibility / Parking
Interstates from all directions come into Baltimore and the best one to use for Johns Hopkins is I-83. There are a few options in terms of which exit to get off at. The easiest is Exit 9A as Cold Spring Lane will connect with University Parkway and then a campus entrance. The stadium is on the north end of campus and the closest parking deck to the stadium is the Muller Deck. Their website says it is usually reserved for VIP guests, but that certainly did not look to be the case for the game I went to. The San Martin Garage is also available and that is a 6 minute longer walk. I only chose this because it’s a little cheaper and a little closer to where I wanted to be before the game in touring campus. Traffic getting out was minimal and area weekend congestion isn’t as impactful as the weekdays.
Accessibility / Parking Ranking: 7 out of 8
Exterior
The only face to the building is on a side that most won’t see. Along University Parkway, the stadium has a mix of brick and concrete along the length of the back visitor side. The school name is classily spelled out, as is a sign for Homewood Field. Walking around, there is so much going on and a walk from the southwest to southeast side is brutal. This is because connecting buildings extend far out from the stadium and this includes an athletic complex and an attached ROTC section. Only people like me are impacted though as there are corner entrances where people decide to arrive from.
Exterior Ranking: 3 out of 10
Concourse
Again, the north side of the stadium along the road is the only “concourse” per se. Covered space under the stand includes a bathroom and drinking fountains. The bathrooms on the other home side are through a middle opening and the space is quite small. Even though there’s a connection to the interior of a building, I don’t think fans can go in it. Same thing for the lacrosse center behind the east end zone. Otherwise, there’s just walking space at ground level between the seating structure and the field. Ends are open.
Concourse Ranking: 1 out of 5
Food
The insanely high prices are enough to steer you away from the shed that serves food. Options aren’t enticing as the only thing semi-sustaining is a hot dog and a really large pizza. I was very tempted at halftime to go drive somewhere and then bring back dinner and watch the rest of this blowout game. There was one food truck in the endzone and it was barely used as ice cream wasn’t desired on this chilly evening.
Food Ranking: 2 out of 8
Interior
Even though this is a simple Division III stadium, the stands are built in a fan-friendly way. On the south (home) side, stands are pitched at a very steep angle. It’s a good thing there are only 12 rows as even that small climb tired my legs. The arrangement allows for nice sightlines despite the presence of a former track that puts stands a little further from the field. The stadium base is concrete and it definitely has a worn look to it. Metal bleachers sit on top of each row. The stands extend beyond the end zone and the playing surface has a funky look because of all the lines on it for other sports. This is also why a painted “Johns Hopkins” exists behind the end zone instead of in it (lacrosse). High-rise buildings rise behind the stands on the other sideline, which are at a similar length. The height is bigger over here as I counted 21 rows. There isn’t as much of a historical look on this side, but the steepness is sufficient for viewing purposes. Just be mindful of sun glare.
Interior Ranking: 6 out of 14
Scoreboard
Even though I wanted a scoreboard in the east endzone, the one they have at the other end is excellent. The video screen is very impressive, especially for this level of football (having a D1 lacrosse program helps). Complimenting the live video feed were frequent replays. There weren’t any “fun” graphics, but that’s ok with me. On the left quarter of the screen is a graphical display that is a nice change of pace. The top is eye-catching too with a stadium name and analog clock. The only annoying thing in this area is the lifted platform for the team’s video production as that sometimes gets in the way of viewing.
Scoreboard Ranking: 3 out of 4
Displays
Lacrosse is mostly featured as there is a statue of a former head coach and a cool Maryland Blue Crab in sport gear. Other sports including football get decent looking panels above the seating bowl that honor the years of various achievements.
Displays Ranking: 2 out of 6
Cost
Football tickets are free! You would think that rarity alone should make Homewood Field have a perfect score….but I just can’t overlook the other crazy high charges. Parking is $15 (or $9 if you want a further lot) and even though that is more attributed to being an urban campus in a big city, it’s still out of whack. Even sillier is the $9 Hot Dog and the $6 Cookie. I don’t care how large and delicious those might be, that is the highest prices I’ve ever seen for those two things and that includes major sporting events.
Cost Ranking: 6.5 out of 8
Fan Support
With no tickets distributed, a rough attendance count isn’t possible. The team does put a guess together in the box score and they like numbers around 2,000 or 600. For the game I saw, it was closer to 600. I wouldn’t expect much for D3….but this was a “rival” game and for an undefeated season, so a bigger crowd would’ve been nicer to see. At least there were many students who came and they even had their own little section in the middle.
Fan Support Ranking: 2 out of 8
Atmosphere
The small crowd cheered appropriately and a lot of them got on their feet for touchdowns. The student section and pep band also had some pop as the fight song was catchy. The game was never in doubt, but in the beginning, fans did their part early on. The stadium doesn’t get noisy and sound is lost on the visitors sideline. Overall, there is some atmosphere here.
Atmosphere Ranking: 6 out of 14
Other Stuff
The game I saw was between Johns Hopkins and McDaniel, a rivalry that has featured these two playing each other over 100 times. It is always the last game of the regular season for both and the winner gets the Maryland Railroad Lantern trophy. Before 2002, McDaniel was known as Western Maryland College……Johns Hopkins’ Lacrosse program historically has been a powerhouse, so much so that they compete in Division I. They’ve won 9 National Titles and this is the big sport at the school. They play in the Spring at Homewood Field…..I couldn’t help but repeat this when I arrived at the game……An extra point clanged off the building behind the end zone, squarely hitting the C in “Center”. That provided a nice giggle around the stadium.
Game
A game pitting an undefeated team against a winless one went exactly how you think it went. The lone interest came in the first few possessions as each team was stopped at midfield. Then Gabe Feliciano-Munoz picked off a McDaniel pass and took it back to the house. It was all Johns Hopkins from there as the difference in quality was most notable in the dozen long passes attempted on offense as Blue Jays receivers always got behind their man. On the ground, Johns Hopkins had six players that averaged over 5 yards per carry.
Stadium and Arena Visits 
