Robert Vance had the same gameday routine for years.
In the hours leading up to every UA home football game, heโd stop at El Guero Canelo and grab a Sonoran hot dog, park his dark green 1998 Subaru Legacy near the Circle K on Speedway Boulevard and Park Avenue, then walk a mile through the UA campus to the west side of Arizona Stadium.
Vance would walk through the stadium gates, buy a soda โ a Dr. Pepper or Diet Coke โ and find his seat located between the 50-yard line and the section of visiting fans in the southwest corner. Vance brought home so many commemorative cups that his cupboards overflowed.
Vance watched every second of every game from his seats, regardless of whether Arizona was winning by 30 or down by 30.
Vance, 55, died in October from radiation effects related to his lengthy battle with non-Hodgkinโs lymphoma, the disease that prompted his discharge from the Air Force. After the military, Vance worked as a home healthcare nurse, raised his son Donavan and daughter Shannon and watched the Wildcats play.
The UA superfan was back in the stadium for Saturdayโs opener against USC. Donavan and Shannon Vance purchased a cardboard cutout of their late father that will remain in the stands for the entirety of the 2020 season.
The UA has sold close to 500 cutouts of fans and former players. Cutouts of fans like Vance joined Arizona greats Nick Foles, Rob Gronkowski and Tedy Bruschi, among others, in spots along the USC sideline and in the stadiumโs north and south end zones.
โTo be able to honor and commemorate my dad and his fandom for the U of A, itโs the only thing I can think to do given this current pandemic situation,โ said Donavan Vance, a Tucson police officer.
โThe best way to commemorate him is to have his picture at Arizona Stadium.โ
Not all the fans inside Arizona Stadium were made of cardboard.
The UA allowed parents and close family members of players from both teams into the stadium for the game. The USC contingent sat in the northwest corner of Arizona Stadium near the Sands Club, while the UA spectators were stationed in the ZonaZoo behind the home sideline. The seats were divided up into groups of four.
The resulting experience was strange. Even though Saturdayโs game featured both piped- in crowd noise and live performances by the โPride of Arizonaโ โ which played its gameday hits from Bear Down Field just north of the stadium โ the atmosphere was a โfalse energy,โ said Alton Frazier, the father of UA wide receiver Jamarye Joiner.
โYou hear the loud sounds, but the people arenโt there,โ Frazier said. โWe thrive on the energy the person next to you gives you. We donโt have that.โ
Not that Frazier was complaining. He said his family was grateful to watch Joiner, a junior and former Cienega High School star, play in person. Frazier has only missed only one of Joinerโs home games, and it was because of his military duties.
When the opportunity came to attend, Frazier and Joinerโs mother, Christina Peรฑa, jumped. Joinerโs parents said theyโd rather watch the game in person than on Fox.
โWhen theyโre playing and they see their parents in the stands, it changes their energy. โฆ The kids need that,โ Frazier said.
Saturdayโs game at Arizona Stadium wasnโt exactly normal, but nothing since March has been ordinary. If anything, Arizonaโs 2020 season opener was a reminder that simple activities โ such as attending a football game in person โ can be taken for granted.
Donavan Vance knows. He said watching the Wildcats play at Arizona Stadium were among his fatherโs favorite memories.
โIt was the best way he could think of to spend time with me and my sister,โ he said. โWeโd just go experience sports and saw how that brought everything together. All of the analogies and cliches about sports and life (are there), but I think he just wanted to get us set up on that path in life knowing that sports would play a big part in our life and get us on track to be great people.โ
Donavan Vanceโs bond with his father grew when he decided to play football, first at Pima College and then at Quincy University in Illinois. For a few years, Robert Vanceโs Saturdays consisted of watching his son play for Pima in the afternoon and his Wildcats play at night.
โHe wouldnโt have it any other way,โ Donavan Vance said. โHe loved football and the U of A so much, he couldnโt think of a better way to spend his Saturdays.โ
This time, the return of UA football made for a sentimental Saturday.
โMy dad bled red and blue, thatโs just the way he was. He was just all about it. โฆ He was all about football and the U of A,โ Donavan said.
โI just know heโs looking down smiling at us because heโs able to be there in some fashion.โ
