What's the best way to become excellent? Butter!
At least that's my takeaway based on the Land O' Lakes sponsorship...
Athletic Facilities across the Nation
- Thread starter BigJCy
- Start date
What's the best way to become excellent? Butter!
At least that's my takeaway based on the Land O' Lakes sponsorship...
I have heard the logo on the court and Hilton isn't cheap. The other seed corn company in the state would love to have their logo there and keeps driving up the cost.
It really has turned into a swinging **** contest at this point.
This is nothing against Pioneer, because I am appreciative of companies that give to ISU, but I absolutely hate the GREEN on the court - we're NOT Baylor - it is not a complementary color to our cardinal & gold.
"In preparation for the 2018 season, the University of Oklahoma will install a new videoboard at its football facility. Located on the north end, the new Gaylord Family-Oklahoma Memorial Stadium videoboard is expected to be more than three times larger than the display it is replacing, as it measures at 2,356 square feet and stands 38 feet high by 62 feet wide."
"The project was approved Wednesday by the OU Board of Regents. It is budgeted at $4.3 million, and the university anticipates that it will provide high-quality replays during the game."
I think Pollard has done a great job of upgrading facilities during his tenure. Just look at how far we have come since the late 90's with the football facilities alone. I was a freshman in 1998, the Bergstrom indoor facility had not even been built yet and when we made a bowl game the following year for the first time in nearly 2 decades the team had to practice at the Lied rec center which still limited them getting meaningful scrimmages in due to the size constraints of that facility. McCarney was pushing for an indoor facility for a long time and finally got it and that was the first in many upgrades to come down the road. Bruce Van De Velde didn't do us many favors in his 6 years as AD, he wasn't a big fund raiser nor very popular in general so it's even more amazing the job that Pollard has done having to take over an athletics department that Bruce had not done much to grow or create the necessary buzz to get the donor money needed to improve facilities.
Ever since we closed in the south end zone I am just in awe every fall seeing all the new improvements that have happened to the "front door" of Iowa State. In a short time we have turned our FB facilities from bottom part of the conference to upper half I think. There isn't much I'd change with Hilton as it's stood the test of time as one of the best places to see a basketball game but some improvements to the area immediately outside of Hilton would add some curb appeal. At one point I thought there were plans for an outdoor concourse on the south side of Hilton? It's crazy to think that not long ago the basketball team was practicing at places like Forker and State Gym and the basketball offices were where Johnny's is today.
I think the support our fanbase shows is our biggest recruiting asset. Having nice facilities definitely plays a factor too and shouldn't be ignored either. Where we are today compared to 5,10, 20 years ago it is impressive just how quickly we have closed the gap in an area that we were at a severe disadvantage at one point.
Ever since we closed in the south end zone I am just in awe every fall seeing all the new improvements that have happened to the "front door" of Iowa State. In a short time we have turned our FB facilities from bottom part of the conference to upper half I think. There isn't much I'd change with Hilton as it's stood the test of time as one of the best places to see a basketball game but some improvements to the area immediately outside of Hilton would add some curb appeal. At one point I thought there were plans for an outdoor concourse on the south side of Hilton? It's crazy to think that not long ago the basketball team was practicing at places like Forker and State Gym and the basketball offices were where Johnny's is today.
I think the support our fanbase shows is our biggest recruiting asset. Having nice facilities definitely plays a factor too and shouldn't be ignored either. Where we are today compared to 5,10, 20 years ago it is impressive just how quickly we have closed the gap in an area that we were at a severe disadvantage at one point.
I don't think many people realize just how bad it was. I remember being over at the stadium one summer in the early '90s when the maintenance guy was scrounging for a sheet of plywood. He couldn't get approval to buy a single sheet of plywood to help fix the pressbox roof that was leaking so he was trying to scrounge some. It was simply unbelievable at that time.
Early 90s? This would have been when the press box was located between the upper & lower decks correct?
Correct. Following have been added to or around Jack Trice since the early 90's.
Press Box, Jacobson Bldg, Natural Grass Turf, Permanent Lights, Suites / club seating between the lower / upper deck, practice field(s) West of stadium, Indoor Practice Facility, Concourse expansions, Football Facility, North Scoreboard / sound system, South End Zone Club and Seating Expansion, Reiman Gardens, Decorative Fence and Ring of Trees.
But we did lose the hot tubs in the south end zone so it is probably a push...
I am no Bruce apologist so don't take this as such but to be correct, he is the one to get the Berg Indoor project done. Actually did a nice job too as it has stood the test of time 15 years later. Could it have been better? Sure, but it is still pretty strong for an IPF. Once cannot say the same for Gene Smith's upgrades to the press tower which was obsolete the day it opened or the paper airplane in the NEZ which has had to be updated 2x by JP because it was done on the cheap.
Bruce also got Student Athlete Services out of Beyer Hall (Mac would not take recruits or families to see the academic facilities) and helped raise funds for the Hixon Building. Bruce's best decision was hiring CJL but those two decisions were solid.
That being said, it will never hurt my feelings for Bruce to be taken to task, he lacked vision, had no people skills and really would never have been given the job if he were not an alum. Richard Seagrave was the interim president of ISU during this time (after Jischke left) and he and a committee made the hire. Interesting note was that Tom Jurich wanted the job pretty bad and Larry was pushing for him in a strong way (they were good friends). Legend has it that Larry and Bill had a near fist fight in the basketball offices discussing the next AD as Bill was uncertain of Jurich's level of interest in women's sports. Of course, L'ville now has had women's basketball success that ISU will never reach the level of. Irony in so many ways if the legend is true. Still, glad Tom never came to ISU for obvious reasons.
Now, back to facilities. Yes, the old smoking decks at Hilton are in the plans to one day become absorbed as part of the outer concourse of the arena. The traffic flow would be greatly improved but also provided flexibility to have balcony stairs in some areas actually come out on the outer concourse as opposed the the inner concourse. This would create room for revenue generating suites on the inner concourse. I am speculating that this would be suites behind the baskets and not along the sideline. Not 100% on that.
