The future of the Dome...

[TexanMark]

Guess you've never been to BC.

And you'd be surprised how many P5 schools have tailgating situations similar to SU.

We don't have the worst...but SU is in the bottom 5-10 among P5. You can guess who the others are: mostly urban schools. I'd rank Northwestern, BC down there. On the flipside...we are on campus...so that helps on the plus side.

 

[omniorange]

perception is reality though so good for them. The example should be BC. When I went to SU in the early 90s the schools were very close ranking wise. BC is now in the low/mid 30s and Syracuse is out of the top 50. Not sure BC is gaming it but that's eye opening as well.

BC isn't gaming the system, or at least not as systematically as Northeastern and a few others have. They have gained 5 spots from their best back in 90s (36 to 31), whereas SU has lost 18 spots (40 to 58).

Btw, we were at 55 when Cantor took over. Her 1st three years we were 52, 50, 52 and then we started to fall, the nadir being 62 one year.

Cheers,
Neil

 

[cuseguy]

We don't have the worst...but SU is in the bottom 5-10 among P5. You can guess who they are: mostly urban schools.

Having tailgated at a number of schools and seeing others on TV, I'm always surprised how many have urban tailgating setups. But they're creative and they make the most of it.

Winning is most important, but better tailgating would attract a greater number of fans.

 

[omniorange]

Cantor anti gamed it

I don't think anyone really thinks northeastern is actually that good.

students need to start gaming it more. find a smaller school that's good enough where your test scores actually help them and leverage it. get a big scholarship and put it in your pocket to talk to the school you actually want to go to

Like everything else, the government will take over - they apparently liked Money Magazines best colleges for your money rankings and will likely use a similar methodology to determine the best colleges that way.

Education is going to get very interesting over the next decade or so.

Cheers,
Neil

 

[TexanMark]

Having tailgated at a number of schools and seeing others on TV, I'm always surprised how many have urban tailgating setups. But they're creative and they make the most of it.

Winning is most important, but better tailgating would attract a greater number of fans.

SU really could do a few things to improve things. They should seriously look at creating a tailgating grove on the Quad.

 

[OttoMets]

OttoMets Capitol project master plan bud! What are you hearing?

I haven't heard details, but this (phased Dome renovation and expansion as part of 2030-ish capital plan) jibes with what I've heard. The potential May release of specifics is news to me, but that sounds about right.

Expect relatively few SU ground-up building projects and more renovations. For new-build construction of housing or retail, they'll be seeking private partners for leaseback arrangements. There may be a couple smaller new academic buildings north of campus on there, too.

 

[upperdeck]

Everything I have read about other stadiums indicates a cost in the hundreds of millions to convert the roof to a fixed one by adding the necessary supporting structure.

I watch the Amish put new metal roofs on in a weekend, i'm sure they can knock this off over a xmas break..

 

[OttoMets]

...

The quickest way to improve the overall college academics perception is not through "research" but to turn the College of Law into a Top 50 school in that area. Which is, again, the main reason why I believe the new Chancellor was hired.

Cheers,
Neil

I expect news on that front by the end of the spring semester.

Buh-bye, current SUCOL administration.

 

[jr4750]

SU really cold do a few things to improve things. They should seriously look at creating a tailgating grove on the Quad.

For real Mark, they should consult you! I wonder how we can make that happen?

 

[TexanMark]

For real Mark, they should consult you! I wonder how we can make that happen?

SU would have to control the set up and build the canopies. Due to the extreme limited access to the Quad it really can't take over the whole quad but just a section. It would good for the both the high end donors but also the Greeks could have a part. The rub is SU might have to spend some money to modify the grounds to allow better traffic flow of folks dropping things off. Student Organizations could make tips moving items over and back for the alumni. I really liked when Q3, etc...had a bigger footprint on the Quad. If the Grove idea seems too hard to do...bring back more Quad parking.

 

[Scooch]

SU really could do a few things to improve things. They should seriously look at creating a tailgating grove on the Quad.

If SU was really interested they could essentially build an "urban tailgating corridor" from M Street to the Quad. There's already an M Street scene, and they could have stands lining the walkway between Newhouse and Schine, right up to the Quad, where they could circle it with food trucks. Set up a few hundred folding chairs and plastic picnic tables, and you could have a few thousand people partaking in a backyard BBQ-style tailgate. Would be fun and unique.

 

[Millhouse]

If SU was really interested they could essentially build an "urban tailgating corridor" from M Street to the Quad. There's already an M Street scene, and they could have stands lining the walkway between Newhouse and Schine, right up to the Quad, where they could circle it with food trucks. Set up a few hundred folding chairs and plastic picnic tables, and you could have a few thousand people partaking in a backyard BBQ-style tailgate. Would be fun and unique.

rochester does a food truck rodeo that is very popular and it's on a wednesday night with nothing going on. plenty of food trucks around nearby who'd make the trip

i want to get blind drunk and eat ali baba's pizza for old times sake. put that one up by whatever dorm that is near thornden park

 

[OttoMets]

SU would have to control the set up and build the canopies. Due to the extreme limited access to the Quad it really can't take over the whole quad but just a section. It would good for the both the high end donors but also the Greeks could have a part. The rub is SU might have to spend some money to modify the grounds to allow better traffic flow of folks dropping things off. Student Organizations could make tips moving items over and back for the alumni. I really liked when Q3, etc...had a bigger footprint on the Quad. If the Grove idea seems too hard to do...bring back more Quad parking.

Exactly.

Make a two-season commitment to line up 10' x 10' or 10' x 20' pop-ups on both sides of the Quad and Hendricks Field, give people tables, maybe even grills. Do this for no (or a very low) fee in order to build a buzz and create a tradition. Let tailgaters drop off from Sims Drive until 4 hours before kickoff.

 

[Scooch]

rochester does a food truck rodeo that is very popular and it's on a wednesday night with nothing going on. plenty of food trucks around nearby who'd make the trip

i want to get blind drunk and eat ali baba's pizza for old times sake. put that one up by whatever dorm that is near thornden park

Yep. Food trucks are all the rage. As are beer fests and events of that sort. I went to what turned out to be a crummy "4B" festival in New Haven last spring... Beer, Bourbon, Bacon and Barbeque... and it was a total mob scene. Thousands upon thousands of people went to this dillapitated warehouse in a lousy part of town and paid $75+ for a 4 hour pass.

Promote the "Orange Urban Tailgate" as food and beer best, and also see some football too, and you might get some folks interested.

Where's Bartlett?!

 

[cmr27]

Keep the Dome. The trend in college football attendance is downward. Fewer kids are playing football and you have all the health issues associated with the game. Plus, the home viewing experience is so much better now than it was in the 90s. I don't see any of this changing. 60k+ stadiums are gonna be obsolete outside the top schools within 20 years. You have a lot of empty seats in college football stadiums that seat 60k+, even in the SEC, today. The trend won't reverse. 45k is gonna be the perfect size. I'd soup up the Dome with a lot of gadgets and technology -- similar to what's in the 49ers new stadium. Add restaurants, play areas for kids, more tailgating, i.e. things you can't get at home. But 45k keeps it cozy and kinda semi-exclusive. It's the perfect size venue for the future of sports.

 

[elimunelson]

Yep. Food trucks are all the rage. As are beer fests and events of that sort. I went to what turned out to be a crummy "4B" festival in New Haven last spring... Beer, Bourbon, Bacon and Barbeque... and it was a total mob scene. Thousands upon thousands of people went to this dillapitated warehouse in a lousy part of town and paid $75+ for a 4 hour pass.

Promote the "Orange Urban Tailgate" as food and beer best, and also see some football too, and you might get some folks interested.

Where's Bartlett?!

Love this idea. Think outside the box, go 4b (or 5b---broads). Syracuse will never be Death Valley. I have always maintained that they need to accentuate what the school has and can offer (on campus facility, nice college bars, beautiful campus).

 

[Millhouse]

Yep. Food trucks are all the rage. As are beer fests and events of that sort. I went to what turned out to be a crummy "4B" festival in New Haven last spring... Beer, Bourbon, Bacon and Barbeque... and it was a total mob scene. Thousands upon thousands of people went to this dillapitated warehouse in a lousy part of town and paid $75+ for a 4 hour pass.

Promote the "Orange Urban Tailgate" as food and beer best, and also see some football too, and you might get some folks interested.

Where's Bartlett?!

personally, i can't stand how froofy these food trucks have become. i'm not paying 12 bucks for fries just because you squirted a drop of truffle j!zz on it. give me a godd@mn hotdog already

 

[SU2NASA]

Northeastern "gamed" the system in place at US News and College Report. Good article on how they did it linked below:

http://www.bostonmagazine.com/news/article/2014/08/26/how-northeastern-gamed-the-college-rankings/2/

Mentions how some others tried to "game" the system.

Cheers,
Neil

Remember our friends from Clemson puffing out their chests?

"In 2009, an administrator at Clemson University, whose president shared Freeland’s rankings fixation, admitted the school misrepresented financial information and purposefully rated institutions low on the peer assessments."

 

[Bayside44]

Amen. We have one of the worst, if not THE worst, tailgating situations among the P5's.

I was at Chapel Hill on Saturday, really no different than us.

 

[TexanMark]

Keep the Dome. The trend in college football attendance is downward. Fewer kids are playing football and you have all the health issues associated with the game. Plus, the home viewing experience is so much better now than it was in the 90s. I don't see any of this changing. 60k+ stadiums are gonna be obsolete outside the top schools within 20 years. You have a lot of empty seats in college football stadiums that seat 60k+, even in the SEC, today. The trend won't reverse. 45k is gonna be the perfect size. I'd soup it up the Dome with a lot of the gadgets and technology -- similar to what's in the 49ers new stadium. Add restaurants, play areas for kids, more tailgating, i.e. things you can't get at home. But 45k keeps it cozy and kinda semi-exclusive. It's the perfect size venue for the future of sports.

Like it all but capacity should be further reduced to 44,440 or 44,044

 

[IraSez]

FYI, the Dome roof will have to be replaced within the next 10 years, at which point it's expected useful life will be done. At this point, the Dome's air inflated structure is the last of it's kind (or almost the last) and will/has become increasingly difficult and expensive to replace and maintain. One of the issues being discussed is if you build a new outdoor stadium, as some have suggested, you than need to build a new basketball arena. Whatever the ultimate decision is, you will have folks who will be unhappy. It's the American way.

 

[TexanMark]

Doing a Dome redo could be beneficial in other areas. Imagine gutting all the 200 level and creating something similar to MetLife (on a smaller scale obviously). You could wrap it around the basketball (end zone).

 

[elimunelson]

be very interesting to see what a Dome redo would look like. I hope they paint this hard top Orange. Just hope Nike isn't involved in the redo.

 

[OrangeXtreme]

Alex Dunbar ‏@AlexDunbarNews 6m
AEG Live rep : current Carrier Dome roof can not handle lighting rigging for some major acts & SU considering upgrade

 

[sufandu]

I really believe that's more because of our fans than the parking.

When we were good in the 90s, and I was a season ticket holder, my crew used to get to the lot on the corner of Waverly and South Crouse (now Newhouse III) 3-4 hours beforekickoff. Most weeks there were still spots there an hour before kick. The lot cost $10 back then, if I'm not mistaken. People just weren't into tailgating, apparently, because you couldn't ask for a better spot.

It'd be nice to have huge open lots surrounding a stadium, but I don't know that the mere existence of that would generate better tailgating.

Agreed. Our stadium is not the only one that's on campus with crappy parking. Tennessee's isn't surrounded by big open lots and I never hear anyone in Knoxville complain about a poor tailgaiting situation.