wait. you can find ugly pictures...and i don't have a ton of great things to say about Waco. but the brazos river and the suspension bridge are nice amenities in Waco.
http://blog.chron.com/sportsupdate/...-mcclane-to-give-historic-donation-to-baylor/ Former Astros owner Drayton McLane to give historic donation to Baylor Baylor University will announce today that former Astros owner Drayton McLane is making the largest financial gift in school history. That gift will be earmarked for the new 50,000-seat, on-campus football stadium. Football coach Art Briles, who has guided the Bears to back-to-back bowl games, has been lobbying Baylor alums for an on-campus stadium for the last three years. McLane’s gift means the stadium will be built, although it won’t be official until more funds are raised for the what could be a $300 million facility.
More than 200M? http://www.wacotrib.com/news/Baylor-University-receives-anonymous-200-million-gift.html That means it's basically a done deal.
Nice. First TCU's stadium getting re-done. Now Baylor getting a new one. Going to be fun traveling around Texas for the Big12 games.
I received this by email today: John Eddie Williams Makes Significant Gift to New Baylor Football Stadium Naming rights gift for John Eddie Williams Field moves on-campus stadium project forward WACO, Texas – Baylor University announced today that the university has received a major gift from John Eddie Williams Jr., BBA '76, JD '78, of Houston for Baylor Stadium. This generous gift, which ranks among the top 5 capital gifts in university history, will support construction of the university's new on-campus football stadium to be built alongside the Brazos River. With this naming rights gift, the field at Baylor Stadium will be named John Eddie Williams Field. Williams' gift follows the announcement of a leadership gift in March by Elizabeth and Drayton McLane Jr. Both generous gifts will lead on-going fundraising to support stadium construction. "Baylor and Baylor Law School encouraged me to work in service to others and, so far as I am able, to give back to others," Williams said. "As a former football student-athlete under Coach Grant Teaff, I am honored and humbled to have my name associated with a project that will take Baylor athletics to new heights. Sheridan and I are delighted to have a role helping to ensure that the university will soon have the finest football stadium in the country. As a proud Baylor Lawyer, I am excited that Baylor Stadium will connect fans to the Baylor Law School, as they walk to the stadium and sit in their seats on game day," he said. "A distinguished alumnus of both Baylor University and Baylor Law School, and one of our nation's foremost legal advocates, John Eddie Williams has already left a major imprint on our campus, here along the banks of the Brazos. His transformative gift helped build the spectacular Baylor Law School in 2001, and now his leadership and generosity extends to the opposite side of the river," said Baylor President Ken Starr. "A former football student-athlete under legendary coach Grant Teaff, John Eddie has provided a generous gift that will continue to fuel the momentum that is gathering around construction of our new on-campus football stadium. It is fitting tribute to John Eddie and Sheridan Williams that the vistas of both the stadium and John Eddie's beloved Baylor Law School will complement one another, and our law school will be a game day highlight as thousands of our loyal fans stroll through campus on their way to fill Baylor Stadium. The new on-campus Baylor Stadium, which encompasses John Eddie Williams Field, is expected to be built on a 93-acre site on Interstate 35, one of the nation's busiest highways, traversed by more than 42 million drivers annually. The stadium will hold 45,000 spectators, with the flexibility to expand to 55,000 in the future. It also will feature a bridge crossing the Brazos River and connecting the stadium to the campus, canopy shading for half of all seats throughout the day, open concourses with views directly into the stadium, suites, loge boxes, indoor and outdoor club seating, designated seating for Baylor students and the Baylor band, and an event center and Stadium Club for year-round use. A native Houstonian and the son of a longshoreman, Williams is managing partner of Williams Kherkher Hart Boundas Law Firm L.L.P. of Houston. He was a standout football player at Pasadena High School and entered Baylor on a football scholarship after being recruited by then-head coach Grant Teaff. Williams played football for Baylor for two years before graduating c*m laude with his bachelor of business degree in 1976. He then entered Baylor Law School, finishing first in his class and serving as editor-in-chief of the Baylor Law Review. He passed the Texas State Bar Exam 15 days before he graduated from law school. Previously, John Eddie and Sheridan Williams have made major gifts to Baylor Law School's capital and endowment campaign to help finance the construction of the Sheila and Walter Umphrey Law Center, which opened in 2001. Williams' gift also helped establish the Sheridan and John Eddie Williams Legal Research and Technology Center at Baylor Law School. In addition to Baylor Law School, Williams has supported other projects, such as the Student Life Center, Floyd Casey Stadium Skyboxes, the Matt R. Dawson Endowed Professorship and the John E. Williams Athletic Scholarship. In 2002, Williams was honored by Baylor Law School as Baylor Lawyer of the Year, an award given annually to an outstanding alumnus who has brought honor and distinction to Baylor Law School and the legal profession. His honors also include the 2008 Clarence Darrow Award and the 2009 David S. Shrager President's Award. He has been named a Super Lawyer' every year since 2004 and was named to Texas' Top Rated Lawyers 2012 Edition. He is past president of the Texas Trial Lawyers Association and past president of the Houston Trial Lawyers Association and the Houston Trial Lawyers Foundation. "We are extremely grateful to John Eddie Williams for providing this generous gift toward a new on-campus Baylor football stadium," said Baylor Director of Athletics Ian McCaw. "It will be a tremendous honor to have John Eddie Williams' name associated with this state-of-the-art facility and Baylor football. This commitment, coupled with that of Drayton McLane and his family last month, continues to demonstrate that our fundraising momentum for a new Baylor Stadium is growing." "It is truly humbling for all of us in the Baylor football program that John Eddie Williams has provided a generous gift for Baylor's new on-campus football stadium," said Bears' head football coach Art Briles. "What makes this gift especially meaningful to our coaches and student-athletes is that it comes from a Baylor football student-athlete. That says a lot about his love for Baylor University and his desire to help us make this vision a reality." With a successful spring fundraising campaign, the stadium project could be completed in time for the first game in fall 2014.
That's almost half the size of the population of Waco. For a school with 15K students, that's plenty.
I'm just gonna leave this here: http://www.chron.com/sports/solomon...r-savors-unparalleled-year-in-all-3567635.php In total, Baylor's Big Four sports of football (10-3), women's basketball (40-0), men's basketball (30-8) and baseball (41-11), are 121-22 (.846). According to Baylor's research, that is on pace to be the best winning percentage any school has ever posted in those four sports. In 2003-04, Texas' record in those four sports of 123-31 (.799) is the best. As for the top three of football, women's basketball and men's basketball - the money-making sports with the highest attendance - Baylor's teams combined for 80 wins, which according to the school's research is an NCAA record.
Empty new stadium vs. empty old stadium, who cares. They better hope they keep winning or it will be just like usual empty stadium. When I lived in Waco I used to by end zone seats and sit at the 50 yard line by half time so I could cheer against the bears. Too bad RG3 will not be suiting up for Baylor again.
TCU - 43,753 Stephen F. Austin -43,090 Rice - 40,088 Iowa State - 41,625 Missouri - 40,194 Oklahoma - 40,281 Texas - 46,543 These are the attendance numbers for the home games. Not great but hardly "empty". Plus, the bowl game had a great turnout and so did the Sweet 16 and Elite 8 games at Reliant. I know I'll be up there more often to visit the new stadium.
I'm not here to hate, but I was at those Sweet 16 and Elite 8 games. They allowed Duke fans to outmatch them, even thought they had a 4 to 1 edge in numbers.