Wednesday, October 10, 2007

OCS for Memphis, and I ain't joining the Military

Earlier today I posted an old post that basically said build a new stadium for the Tigers. The Commercial Appeal had a little comment on this, not mine, but they were my impetus, the following two boggled my mind.

One commentator listed some schools that play in a urban environment and succeed with on campus with my commentary,

Michigan-old as shit, and Ann Arbor ain't that big
Tennessee-ditto, and knoxville
Ohio State-triple, and Columbus while kinda big, the stadium has been around quite awhile
Georgia-please, Athens is tiny and its the SEC
LSU-see above
Florida-again
Florida State-one more time
Wisconsin-lousy cheese eaters
Notre Dame-leprechan lovers
South Carolina-hehe, I like the 'Cocks, but no
Texas-Austin is bigger, but the stadium is older
Nebraska-lousy corn lovers
Arizona State-again older stadium
California-see above
Washington-and again
Michigan State-one more time
Kentucky-this year excepted, they play football?
Vanderbilt-hahahahahahahahaha
Georgia Tech-come on, this is an engineering school, they can plan and build anything they want.
SMU-play on campus and draw flies on occasion only when an old SWC school comes to town

These stadiums are almost all at least as old as the Liberty Bowl is currently. They are all at major BCS schools, with only one or two exceptions, the cities they are located in are smaller than Memphis, the ones that are bigger, the stadiums are generally older, the enrollment is much larger, or they are in a BCS conference and have a history of winning.

Before I continue,the other post included the following picture.


What is wrong with this picture, other than the stadium in it is way too small, Harold's proposal rotates this 45 degrees and knocks out those two buildings above it, the flyer had it with this.


Look, an OCS is needed for the betterment of the Tigers, lets not lie about this. If the NFL had not been a dream in the Sixties, we probably don't have LBS. We might have a nearer to campus stadium, or one over by South Campus. My wife teaches for UofM and pointed out to me that the Southern proposal might be a no go because the University master plan involves putting a new high tech super Lab Building for all departments. My vet is right there, as is a lot of apartments that students live in.

You can argue that the parking is there, but it won't be, you are going to need to turn the area from Patterson to Highland into parking almost, or at least from the Holdiay Inn to Patterson back to Poplar into parking. You are going to need to virtually double the 9000 (snicker) (closer to 8000) parking spots to have enough parking.

While building it, traffic will be a nightmare if you build it on Curlin, glad my son isn't old enough to go to Campus School yet.

The Tigers need an OCS to help recruiting and it will foster more money for the Univesity because at a minimum, more students will live on Campus, which brings in more money. Build it like Papa John Stadium or UCF's new field, I don't care. Just build it. My only stipulation, the boosters raise the money. The University cannot afford to contribute much and the city has proven they can't be trusted to build a balsa wood airplane. Reid Hedgepath just got elected and was a teammate of Chris Powers, one of Byrd's backers. If he tries to throw any money after this, recall the prick.

Comments welcome.

9 comments:

GoldnI said...

Don't laugh at Vandy! We'll get our comeuppance someday! We'll get to a bowl game someday! And I'm 21, so there's an off chance that I'll live to see it!

Good luck with that. I go to Cornell, so our football stadium is the size of your average high school stadium in Tennessee (not that anyone ever goes to a game except for homecoming, hockey is king up here). But my brother goes to UMiami, and they're moving out of the Orange Bowl to start playing at Dolphin Stadium next year. It's bigger and newer, but it's far away from the campus, and there's so much history at the Orange Bowl. My brother's pretty bummed about it.

Steve Steffens said...

Remember, Keith Olbermann went to Cornell!

GoldnI said...

Damn right he did! As did Christopher Reeve, Janet Reno, Toni Morrison, Kurt Vonnegut, Bill Maher, Bill Nye the Science Guy, and Ruth Bader Ginsburg (who was in my sorority!).

Paul Wolfowitz and The Coultergeist went here too, but they don't mention that on the campus tours :)

Anonymous said...

You guys are nutso about ritualized tribal warfare. I'm a pointy head intellectual who wishes y'all would pay for these ritualized combat sites without public money.

Unknown said...

parking is not an issue....

ever been to oxford? knoxville? you park where you can, and walk. it's part of the experience...walking through the college campus with other football fans.

wreg had a story last night that shows one location idea basically being at the corner of patterson & southern, going back into those rental properties on campus, i believe.

Will Beaty said...

Does the prospect of drunken football fans crossing the tracks near campus to and from games cause anyone else concern?

Steve Steffens said...

Not only that, let's say they build a new OCS, and on-campus residency explodes. A) How are you going to fund and B) where are you going to build new dorms?

The Stratum on Highland is for high-dollar students, so that's not an answer. You are going to have to buy up all the residential property between Poplar & Central, and between DeLoach and Highland, and that may not be enough.

Dr. Raines KNOWS this, and does not want that fundraising nightmare.

Unknown said...

wow....

heaven forbid enrollment actually GROW at The U of M.

let's just keep the status quo, and watch tuition dollars all go to MTSU, UT, and Ole Miss, so Memphis kids can have a real "college experience." that's what's happening now.

dorms are being torn down & rebuilt as part of dr. raines' master plan. the sky is not falling.

Anonymous said...

I used to attend UTK and transferred to Memphis to be home. HUGE mistake. Students just don't care about the school at Memphis at all. An OCS would bring more pride to the students and student involvement would increase dramatically. It is just so much more convenient. The biggest thing Memphis needs is some support for the teams. And an OCS will bring more people to the U of M instead of them choosing UTK or Ole Miss over of the hometown school. More students equals better teachers and a better education, an overall better school, which the city NEEDS in order to get any help politically and economically.