Sure the Dome isn't perfect. What stadium is? However, the Dome is pretty good. All the seats have great views, the climate can be hot, but it beats the alternative of what's probably happening outside, and the stadium is built to be loud, which makes the environment great (when fans actually show up).
*Sure the Dome doesn't have seats, but many college venues don't have seats. Anyway, they make cushions with seat backs. Sure it costs a little extra, but given how cheap Dome tickets are, the only way on Earth that could possibly be an issue is if you're actively looking for things to complain about. And honestly, the seating issue isn't going to change because of the basketball setup. Adding seats would be very problematic because the Dome's basketball setup is less than ideal, so seating density is at a premium, and adding seats would make the seating MUCH less dense.
*Sure the parking isn't great, better than the vast majority of venues. If you think that the parking is bad, drive down to the traffic jam that is State College on game day, park in a cow field, and spend up to half an hour walking through cow droppings and then get back to me. We only have to take a shuttle and then walk through a campus quad surrounded by game day festivities. And yes, the festivities need to be improved, but that is a whole different can of worms.
*Sure the outside could use a little work, and the school probable does need to build some amenities around the Dome. Specifically a museum honoring past Syracuse athletes would be nice, but there are MUCH worse-looking stadiums in the land and a museum is an entirely different issue. Anyway, what does the exterior of the stadium have to do with fan enjoyment inside the stadium. Will anyone really be less happy if we blow out Clemson or FSU because our stadium is grey? I won't.
*And, for anyone who really, really doesn't think that the Dome has good seating: go to PSU in November and buy a nose-bleed ticket and tell me the numbers of the players on the field, tell me how much you paid for the ticket, and tell me how cold it was, and then go to a Syracuse game and tell me that your seats in Beaver Stadium were better.
Anyway, regardless of what you think, Syracuse doesn't have the money to build a brand new stadium, or worse, a brand new stadium AND a brand new gymnasium for basketball. As it stands right now, Syracuse has paid for the Dome many times over, so our expenses are low. That means instead of diverting money to overhead, we can divert money to coaching salaries. That's a beautiful thing.
The problem isn't with the Dome, it's with the fans who haven't been showing up. Fortunately, I think that will change under HCSS. For SU fans to show up, I think we need to play real teams, we need to win, and we need a charismatic head coach. We're in the ACC, so we play real teams and HCSS is charismatic and his staff is engaging. That means that all he has to do is win, which is something that he should be capable of doing. SU recruiting seems to have gotten better pretty much every year since GRob left, and HCSS was one of the best DC's in the nation.
(This is in response to a couple threads on this board and several Post Standard stories)
*Sure the Dome doesn't have seats, but many college venues don't have seats. Anyway, they make cushions with seat backs. Sure it costs a little extra, but given how cheap Dome tickets are, the only way on Earth that could possibly be an issue is if you're actively looking for things to complain about. And honestly, the seating issue isn't going to change because of the basketball setup. Adding seats would be very problematic because the Dome's basketball setup is less than ideal, so seating density is at a premium, and adding seats would make the seating MUCH less dense.
*Sure the parking isn't great, better than the vast majority of venues. If you think that the parking is bad, drive down to the traffic jam that is State College on game day, park in a cow field, and spend up to half an hour walking through cow droppings and then get back to me. We only have to take a shuttle and then walk through a campus quad surrounded by game day festivities. And yes, the festivities need to be improved, but that is a whole different can of worms.
*Sure the outside could use a little work, and the school probable does need to build some amenities around the Dome. Specifically a museum honoring past Syracuse athletes would be nice, but there are MUCH worse-looking stadiums in the land and a museum is an entirely different issue. Anyway, what does the exterior of the stadium have to do with fan enjoyment inside the stadium. Will anyone really be less happy if we blow out Clemson or FSU because our stadium is grey? I won't.
*And, for anyone who really, really doesn't think that the Dome has good seating: go to PSU in November and buy a nose-bleed ticket and tell me the numbers of the players on the field, tell me how much you paid for the ticket, and tell me how cold it was, and then go to a Syracuse game and tell me that your seats in Beaver Stadium were better.
Anyway, regardless of what you think, Syracuse doesn't have the money to build a brand new stadium, or worse, a brand new stadium AND a brand new gymnasium for basketball. As it stands right now, Syracuse has paid for the Dome many times over, so our expenses are low. That means instead of diverting money to overhead, we can divert money to coaching salaries. That's a beautiful thing.
The problem isn't with the Dome, it's with the fans who haven't been showing up. Fortunately, I think that will change under HCSS. For SU fans to show up, I think we need to play real teams, we need to win, and we need a charismatic head coach. We're in the ACC, so we play real teams and HCSS is charismatic and his staff is engaging. That means that all he has to do is win, which is something that he should be capable of doing. SU recruiting seems to have gotten better pretty much every year since GRob left, and HCSS was one of the best DC's in the nation.
(This is in response to a couple threads on this board and several Post Standard stories)
