The New Stadium

UNT is voting on a seven dollar student fee that will pay for half of the proposed new stadium here. You can read about it here. There is also a handy pic of the new thing.

Here is my take on it:

We already have a stadium. It has everything needed for a college football team to host visiting college football teams. But not D-1 FBS college football teams. That is the biggest point here. The fact is that the people who run UNT want to be considered a bona fide big time school. There is nothing wrong with wanting that. I dont think the 30 million the students are asked to pay is unreasonable. They aren't asking for a 100,000 seat behemoth. They are asking for a reasonably sized modern stadium so they can compete with other teams in our conference. Yes, it will cost money, but Fouts cost money in the 50's when it was built. It is not an unreasonable request. The fee is not outrageous. Seven dollars isn't 100. Most of us students blow 7 dollars at Starbucks everyday. So skip that frappaccino and get a new stadium that you can be proud of.

The attendance argument is also brought up by some. They say we can't get the one we have filled, so why should we get another that is bigger? That makes sense on the surface if we were just adding seats to Fouts. We plan to build a better stadium, with better sight lines, and closer positions. Now, when you go to the game, you will feel like you are at the game, not somewhere in the vicinity of the game. Those 10,000 fans that show up will feel and sound like more when there isn't a track between them and the field. We will be sitting right on top of the field. It makes a difference.


It will generate money. A better looking stadium is as useful as a better looking fountain in the middle of campus. It adds beauty, status, and ambiance. More people will consider a better looking university than an ugly one. UT-San Antonio has a slightly smaller student population. It is ugly as sin. I know, I have been there. It is a sea of parking lots. Horrible. I know our campus isn't Princeton or Harvard, but it is decent looking. I chose this school because it looked like somewhere I would be proud to attend (among other reasons). When it comes down to it, we like nice things. Fouts isn't nice. They have to rig it up to get a game going. It is embarrassing compared to other stadiums similar colleges have. Fouts looks like a high school stadium. It doesn't look good. Period. It is just old. Not historic-lets-save-the -memory old, either. It is Texas Stadium without the memories ugly.


Speaking of memories. It has no history on it's side either. Sure some pretty decent teams have played there. Sure some people who are die-hards care. No one else does. You hear people trying to save the Cotton Bowl, which is older than Fouts, because of the memories there. There have been some absolute classics played at that place, the most recent Texas-OU game another in a long line. How many great games can you name that happened here? Maybe that Navy game last year. Now, how many people know anything about that game? Exactly. Let's get rid of the old one.


My point is that we aren't a nationally recognized school by most people. Sure some academic types, and music fans know of UNT and its music program "hey, they have a pretty good music program, right? I think someone told me about that or something. " Sound familiar? Shit, I never heard of this place before researching schools to attend. Why did I come? I like to torture myself. Kidding. Honest. In reality, a lot of people attend schools because they at least have heard of them. Shocking, I know. Of course you have to hear of a school before you consider them. One of the easiest ways to hear of a school is through their athletic prowess. That is the world we live in. Now, I know we aren't going to get the next Vince Young here if we get a new stadium. We probably will not. The biggest benefit is that we will get enough of those middle of the road guys, solid, hard working players, who will help turn around the football team. It can happen.