City of Austin has a huge say in this, and it seems to me like the Statesman property makes the most sense. Make it a destination to draw in Austinites. The students who already go to games will still go to games; mix in some dedicated bus service down Guadalupe to the arena (*and back later in the night*) and you might actually increase the meager student participation. How many dates - UT bball/volleyball - does Erwin host now? How many non-UT dates? How many additional concerts/events could be held at a larger/better facility in a more attractive location?
....What? You are building an arena that will house many type of events including basketball. It then becomes much easier to justify the expense because the return is better. Building a "basketball arena" would mean a smaller venue meant for 10-12K people that doesn't have a lot of great uses outside of Basketball. I feel like people are missing the key aspect here. That's that the atmosphere sucks at UT basketball games. It doesn't suck because of the venue. It sucks because students don't go. It's sad that such a higher percentage of students from other schools go to games than students from UT. The level of apathy that UT has for basketball makes it really hard to justify building an area dedicated to the activity. More people will go if it becomes a part of a bigger night. Go to the food trailers or blacks, catch the game and then go DT. It makes sense. Plus, it opens up a lot more options for other events. HOWEVER, someone brought up how far the area would be from the highway which is a very very legit concern. I'm sure there will be road upgrades and (hopefully) the light rail station literally next to the arena (as planned). I don't know if that is enough.
This is a legit problem with the AAS location. That is right across the street from my business - I can't imagine how you'd get 10k people to an event there. Logistics from traffic to parking would be a total nightmare compared to what you have at the Erwin Center with a major highway, endless cross streets, multiple garages, public downtown parking, etc. There are no side streets in the AAS area. Almost no street parking. Not enough access points or exits. Etc.
This is true and a very valid concern. I think any politician that endorses a Statesman arena without legitimate infrastructure investment should be taken to task. The city keeps cramming people and events downtown and south Congress without any regard for how they access the area itself. Crossing Town Lake over the Congress bridge is enough of a nightmare on a normal workday. I can't image how bad it would be on game day or during a concert.
I think if Riverside was widened to a 6 lane road from 4 it would be ok. There is a lot of room on the north side of the street to claim. It would match Riverside east of 35 in that way. They will have to do something to the road no matter what to build the light rail. The Riverside Exit from 35 is a nightmare though. The project might have to coincide with TXDOTS renovation of I-35. They commissioned a study years ago. They should announce the plan for it this year. I can't imagine how they sink I-35 without closing half of it for years.
This stuff is stupid - http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/ncaaf...ow-up-the--hook--em-horns--yet-163814369.html - just come to TAMU and Tweet & fart & **** & drink. You don't even have to win that many games, we'll let you do cash signs, whatever.
And thank you for your contribution. Not letting the players throw up the horns is a little dumb. That's the first thing recruits do to get excited. Whatever works I guess.
I disagree. One thing that is for certain; Strong is "all in." He personally is all in, he expects his coaches to be all in, and he expects the players to be all in. He practices what he preaches and lives it every day. The players have to show respect to him, his staff, and the traditions. I read a lot about Strong when he was hired about his ability to get the players to build trust and commitment among each other and with him. I can see how he does it now.
I hope http://247sports.com is full of **** because they have every highly ranked state of Texas recruit for 2015 leaning A&M. Not sure how much they really know and how much they just base it on momentum. Really worried we are going to lose Jalen Campbell but I guess there are plenty of other things to worry about until then. 2014 Schedule if you have not seen it: 8/30/2014 North Texas Austin, Texas 9/6/2014 BYU Austin, Texas 9/13/2014 UCLA Arlington, Texas 9/27/2014 Kansas Lawrence, Kan. 10/4/2014 Baylor Austin, Texas 10/11/2014 Oklahoma Dallas, Texas 10/18/2014 Iowa State Austin, Texas 10/25/2014 K-State Manhattan, Kan. 11/1/2014 Texas Tech Lubbock, Texas 11/8/2014 West Virginia Austin, Texas 11/15/2014 Oklahoma State Stillwater, Okla. 11/27/2014 TCU Austin, Texas I think we finish the year with 7-8 wins. The season is going to depend heavily on the health of Jonathan Gray. We ran him to victory against OU.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>The Red River Rivalry is now the Red River Showdown. Used to be the Red River Shootout.</p>— Jake Trotter (@Jake_Trotter) <a href="https://twitter.com/Jake_Trotter/statuses/452118983127232512">April 4, 2014</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
How cares? On another note, new AD has no interest in A&M and wants to move marquee matchups international to increase brand. Doesn't UT have enough money? Here is an idea, why not increase your brand loyalty at home and save games for Austin. This is a really easy way to help the school. Anyone can just move games to make the school more money.
nah dude i bet theyre waiting until the demand is high enough for the A&M and UT games. Wait 5-10 years and see how much $$ people will pay to see A&M and UT play at cowboy stadium. now, probably not much
Playing the long game and maintaining position for a post-Big 12, post BCS, post NCAAuniverse is a smart move - the previous administration locked them into the Big 12 and its great expanses of nothing rahter than looking West, which probably would have been the smarter move long term. Playing more games in Texas vs. in-state rival doesn't further that goal of long-term positioning as much. Deloss & Mack seem in fact to have been pretty awful in terms of recognizing long-term trends the last decade or so.
Deloss left the southwest conference and helped create the big 12 because he had an eye for the future. He is also the reason why Texas is "The Jonses". It's also funny that Dodds didn't want to schedule A&M which feeds into him "not identifying long term trends" but yet when Patterson continues the trend he gets credit for it. I don't understand what this would have to do with a long term trend? Are rivals going to stop playing one another? The fact is that a game vs A&M is more fun then a game against BYU. Also, there is a cost that goes beyond what money is worth. Taking away good home games from your fans is unbelievably exploitive. You want them to buy tickets to watch Kansas and Iowa St but make them drive across the state for UCLA and also going out of the country for other games.
Agreed - I've heard rumors that Texas is looking to move upcoming the USC home game to Mexico City. After the last several years of crappy home schedules and a pathetic Big12 conference in general most years, people are going to be livid if that happens. It just makes the difference in what A&M is offering right now vs Texas even more apparent.
