ADVERTISEMENT

SEZ update, August 2018

the blimp shot of the stadium is definitely better now.

that said, for the spectators at the game, it's effectively essentially about the same as when it opened in 1960.

most everyone now sits in the original east-west stands with the exact same sight lines, that were there day one.

not a shot at what it is now, but an acknowledgement that it was always a great stadium from a fan's perspective.

i don't devalue what it is now, but rather i think many devalue what a great venue it's always been.

has always been the best venue in the B10 from a fan's pov, as far as great sight lines and proximity.
Great insights. Eloquently expressed.
 
Ahh.....the great debate about what “makes” a venue great.
Well....95% of it is atmosphere. Some of these venues were pre-World War II dumps, with crumbling steps, uncomfortable seating and terrible amenities (looking at you Camp Randall) that eventually got updated.
Or, “iconic” Cameron Indoor Arena - a glorified high school gym.

That said, IU desperately needed to do this SEZ to offer something to recruits.

what makes a great venue is great proximity and sight lines.

what makes great atmosphere is a great crowd.

pretty hard to have great atmosphere if the venue is a third empty, and most any venue has great atmosphere when packed.

now that IU has a stadium that looks great Sun thru Fri, we need to put some effort and investment into how it looks on Saturday.

IU puts exactly zero effort or investment into growing the base.

IU's strategy has always been to squeeze the base for every nickle it can, not grow it.
Completely agree the lines and proximity have been under appreciated. Semi-related it’s also why I have a hard time liking high school games. By the time you fit in sidelines and a track, you seem a mile away. Many HS in south put fans closer. When you’ve always had the proximity and sight lines, you notice it first when you go someplace that doesn’t.
 
Completely agree the lines and proximity have been under appreciated. Semi-related it’s also why I have a hard time liking high school games. By the time you fit in sidelines and a track, you seem a mile away. Many HS in south put fans closer. When you’ve always had the proximity and sight lines, you notice it first when you go someplace that doesn’t.

Should be a real home field advantage for us if we can get over the hump success-wise and fill it.

VaTech's stadium (which basically started as a clone of Memorial) is always mentioned as a very loud, tough place to play and an enclosed Memorial Stadium will be the same thing.
 
It’s very nice but the football team has to share this facility with every other sport. We need a football only facility, like every other school in the conference. Does Fred Glass not realize this? This “excellence academy” is new age baloney. Glass thinks he is ahead of the curve when in reality he has veered completely off the road.
 
Last edited:
It’s very nice but the football team has to share this facility with every other sport. We need a football only facility, like every other school in the conference. Does Fred Glass not realize this? This “excellence academy” is new age baloney. Glass thinks he is ahead of the curve when in reality he has veered completely off the road.
Glass will never, ever do anything that meets your approval, will he?
 
It’s very nice but the football team has to share this facility with every other sport. We need a football only facility, like every other school in the conference. Does Fred Glass not realize this? This “excellence academy” is new age baloney. Glass thinks he is ahead of the curve when in reality he has veered completely off the road.

Yeah like Northwestern's new facility.
 
Yeah like Northwestern's new facility.
All this stuff is literally in the football stadium. This is asinine. There's nothing the football team has to sacrifice or schedule around. Nothing. They are the main tenant. Everyone goes around what they do. Do you just want to send an intentional FU to the other sports or something? How much more emphasis can they put on football facilities other than putting them IN THE STADIUM?

Let's say we do what you're saying. What do we do with all these facilities at the stadium?
 
  • Like
Reactions: LeConte
All this stuff is literally in the football stadium. This is asinine. There's nothing the football team has to sacrifice or schedule around. Nothing. They are the main tenant. Everyone goes around what they do. Do you just want to send an intentional FU to the other sports or something? How much more emphasis can they put on football facilities other than putting them IN THE STADIUM?

Let's say we do what you're saying. What do we do with all these facilities at the stadium?

I don't think you meant to quote me?

Northwestern just built a $450m multi-sport facility. Was pointing out not EVERY school in the conference has a football only facility. Makes sense to me to house it all in one spot, seems like it would save money.
 
  • Like
Reactions: MrBing
All this stuff is literally in the football stadium. This is asinine. There's nothing the football team has to sacrifice or schedule around. Nothing. They are the main tenant. Everyone goes around what they do. Do you just want to send an intentional FU to the other sports or something? How much more emphasis can they put on football facilities other than putting them IN THE STADIUM?

Let's say we do what you're saying. What do we do with all these facilities at the stadium?

The message needs to be that football brings in the most money so it should get the most attention and resources. A good football program will pay for the lesser sports. But at IU everyone is equal so the football team has to share facilities with the friggin chess team.

Other schools and recruits make note of IU’s lack of a football only facility. The program has enough crap weighing it down, it shouldn’t have to deal with this.
 
Last edited:
The message needs to be that football brings in the most money so it should get the most attention and resources. A good football program will pay for the lesser sports. But at IU everyone is equal so the football team has to share facilities with the friggin chess team.

Other schools and recruits make note of IU’s lack of a football only facility. The program has enough crap weighing it down, it shouldn’t have to deal with this.

The only primary shared facility is the weight room. And that weight room (25k sq ft) is almost double the size of the "football only" ones at OSU and PSU (both listed at 13k sq ft). The new nutrition/dining area and the new rehab area will also be shared, but that seems to be the case at most schools. Most everything else is dedicated to the football team. Plus, the soon to be vacated old dining/rehab areas (about 25k sq ft) will converted into football only space.

Yes, there isn't a stand alone building dedicated to football like some schools, but the amount of space allocated to football is certainly on par with our competitors. Plus, there's no indication that this will be the stopping point for IU either.
 
The only primary shared facility is the weight room. And that weight room (25k sq ft) is almost double the size of the "football only" ones at OSU and PSU (both listed at 13k sq ft). The new nutrition/dining area and the new rehab area will also be shared, but that seems to be the case at most schools. Most everything else is dedicated to the football team. Plus, the soon to be vacated old dining/rehab areas (about 25k sq ft) will converted into football only space.

Yes, there isn't a stand alone building dedicated to football like some schools, but the amount of space allocated to football is certainly on par with our competitors. Plus, there's no indication that this will be the stopping point for IU either.
Exactly. The new complex under the west stands (expanded locker room, lounge, coaches' locker room, recruiting room, equipment room, and training room) will be space specifically for football. And its a significant amount of space. Will be done next summer.
 
  • Like
Reactions: MrBing
Exactly. The new complex under the west stands (expanded locker room, lounge, coaches' locker room, recruiting room, equipment room, and training room) will be space specifically for football. And its a significant amount of space. Will be done next summer.

IU's plans involve an incremental re-purposing of space. IU football is competing with the space and facilities that other schools have or are building, but it just isn't getting the single big reveal/grand opening that other places are getting
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: RBB89
Other schools and recruits make note of IU’s lack of a football only facility. The program has enough crap weighing it down, it shouldn’t have to deal with this.
Man, you're really reaching. You think other schools are gonna dawg our brand new state of the art facility because some baseball players or volleyball players might be using portions of it too?

C'mon, tell us the truth... what would Fred Glass have to do, anything, you name it, for you to give him some kind of credit? Or if you can't do that, how about just not complain and criticize his every single move?
 
  • Like
Reactions: MrBing
Man, you're really reaching. You think other schools are gonna dawg our brand new state of the art facility because some baseball players or volleyball players might be using portions of it too?

C'mon, tell us the truth... what would Fred Glass have to do, anything, you name it, for you to give him some kind of credit? Or if you can't do that, how about just not complain and criticize his every single move?

I think it's a positive that volleyball players may be in there too ;-)
 
Man, you're really reaching. You think other schools are gonna dawg our brand new state of the art facility because some baseball players or volleyball players might be using portions of it too?

C'mon, tell us the truth... what would Fred Glass have to do, anything, you name it, for you to give him some kind of credit? Or if you can't do that, how about just not complain and criticize his every single move?

I’m just telling you what people who know have said repeatedly. As for Glass, maybe if he hadn’t overseen the worst stretch of IU basketball in fifty years and football had A winning season under his watch I might give him credit. Then there are the scandals- the Wilson debacle, all of the off-court issues under Crean, Curt Miller, and Bryan Fitzgerald being declared ineligible.

I don’t know why IU couldn’t just do what Purdue did and build a nearby, gleaming, football only facility.
 
I don’t know why IU couldn’t just do what Purdue did and build a nearby, gleaming, football only facility.

Sure, IU "could" have built something like that, but didn't NEED to. With the exception of the football only weight room and new locker room/lounge, IU already built EVERYTHING in Purdue's facility 10 years ago, and the locker room/lounge are coming next year, along with refurbishment of the weight room and team meeting rooms. And these aren't things that football is sharing with other sports - by this time next year, IU will probably have more and better "football only" space compared to Purdue with the exception of a weight room. Purdue's new facility wasn't them passing us, it was them trying to catch up.

And that locker room in that "nearby" Purdue facility is so far away from the stadium, that they don't use it for immediate pregame and halftime, and use what is effectively a large conference room instead during those times. For comparison, it legitimately would be as if IU built their football locker room in Assembly Hall
 
It’s very nice but the football team has to share this facility with every other sport. We need a football only facility, like every other school in the conference. Does Fred Glass not realize this? This “excellence academy” is new age baloney. Glass thinks he is ahead of the curve when in reality he has veered completely off the road.

Be more specific please.

I know the complaints about weightlifting being shared, and the locker room re-build not being done yet.

But which of these "shared" "Excellence Academy" functions are you saying should be football only:

the Career counseling?
the Academic/tutoring counselling?
the Medical treatment/therapy?
the Cafeteria?

And are you saying IU should build career stuff, academic stuff, medical treatment/therapy stuff and a cafeteria for each sport? so each sport has career stuff, academic stuff, medical treatment/therapy stuff and a cafeteria, or just two sets - one for football and one for all other sports?

Or maybe 3 - one for football only, one for basketball only, and another for all other sports?

What exactly are you saying?
 
  • Like
Reactions: MrBing
Be more specific please.

I know the complaints about weightlifting being shared, and the locker room re-build not being done yet.

But which of these "shared" "Excellence Academy" functions are you saying should be football only:

the Career counseling?
the Academic/tutoring counselling?
the Medical treatment/therapy?
the Cafeteria?

And are you saying IU should build career stuff, academic stuff, medical treatment/therapy stuff and a cafeteria for each sport? so each sport has career stuff, academic stuff, medical treatment/therapy stuff and a cafeteria, or just two sets - one for football and one for all other sports?

Or maybe 3 - one for football only, one for basketball only, and another for all other sports?

What exactly are you saying?

He's (always) saying he doesn't like Fred Glass. Everything else appears to be and attempt at justification.
 
A football only weight room, training room, and cafeteria for starters. Many programs have a football specific complex in a separate building and the stadium is just a stadium. Look at Purdue, Clemson, Oregon, Alabama, USC, etc. I bring this issue up because other schools make note of it to recruits. A lack of a football only facility hurts IU in recruiting.

The easy fix is to build a separate weight room and training rooms for the other sports somewhere nearby and let the North Endzone be used exclusively for football.

It looks like Alabama has a cafeteria for just its football team.

 
Last edited:
It’s very nice but the football team has to share this facility with every other sport. We need a football only facility, like every other school in the conference. Does Fred Glass not realize this? This “excellence academy” is new age baloney. Glass thinks he is ahead of the curve when in reality he has veered completely off the road.
So what you believe is that IU should not have enclosed the stadium and just built a football only building? That is crazy. The pics of the stadium look incredible. I have been to Gainesville and they are just now getting a football only building. They have done ok to date in recruiting. Miami has the Hecht center that is ancient and no stadium. I believe you are not giving IU enough credit
 
About 635 posts ago, someone was complaining about the graphics on the weight room windows with fans cheering. Well, it looks like those are gone and have been replaced with "THE ROCK"...AND I LOVE IT.
 
About 635 posts ago, someone was complaining about the graphics on the weight room windows with fans cheering. Well, it looks like those are gone and have been replaced with "THE ROCK"...AND I LOVE IT.

it was actually 621 posts ago thank you.

that's still trying to hard imho. just go with white "INDIANA UNIVERSITY" on a solid red background or a couple big IU interlocks on solid red background covering that window.

the kids playground right next to the end zone, (how bizarre looking was that), the flagpole, the weird cartoonish "crowd scene" north end window cover, the giant player canvases hanging outside, the ribbon boards.

like i just said, the canvasses look great, just not the right place to display them.

the cartoonish crowd scene window cover and ribbon boards just need to go.

Glass tries hard, too hard, and just doesn't seem to have a grasp on when something looks out of place or classes down the stadium. (too much makeup).

adding the red paint a while back where he did looks flat out great though, the stadium did need some red.

the stadium itself looks great and classic. too much makeup a mistake on an already beautiful woman.

keep it simple, classy, classic. don't over think it.

same with the unis.

dress the stadium and the team like the program you aspire to be.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: IUgradman
Stadium is looking impressive. Now if we could just get the state to finish the highway to it in time for football season we'd really be onto something...

I know Fred has zip to do with the highway completion schedule but hey, may as well throw him under the bus for that one too right...;)

Would really be nice to see the state actually meet a completion date for once vs just setting a date and hoping everyone forgets about it when the project comes in a year plus late...:mad:

///and I know they're saying they'll be done by the end of August, I'm just not buying it... Here's hoping beyond hope that they prove me wrong (otherwise I'm blaming Fred ;))...///
 
Last edited:
Stadium is looking impressive. Now if we could just get the state to finish the highway to it in time for football season we'd really be onto something...

I know Fred has zip to do with the highway completion schedule but hey, may as well throw him under the bus for that one too right...;)

Would really be nice to see the state actually meet a completion date for once vs just setting a date and hoping everyone forgets about it when the project comes in a year plus late...:mad:

This is what happens when you let the private sector perform what should be government functions and or sub out to foreign companies. Unfortunately the people who make those decisions are rarely held to account.
 
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT