Gies Memorial Stadium
I’ve thought the exact same thing for a while now. Maybe moving the students to the SEZ and to a new area down to the field like Northwestern is doing in their new stadium will help with the cadence for ILL….INI. The west side, east side chant back and forth seems non existent but maybe the band vs the students can create the chant on a more consistent pattern.
Fighter of the Nightman
- Chicago, IL
Can someone who has been to a lot of games comment on how steep the various sections are compared to each other? The NEZ looks pretty steep here (an objectively good thing in a stadium, if you ask me!!), but I have never sat up there or anything. From my trips to Memorial Stadium and just looking at TV / pictures, my impression has usually been:
1) East Balcony is the steepest
2) NEZ is next
3) West Main and East Main are at the same angle and more gradual than the first two
4) The Horseshoe sort of "jets out / back" at a way more gradual angle than the other sections
Shief
- Champaign Area
@Fighter of the Nightman, the ESL and WSL have roughly a 1 to 3 raise to run. The SEZ is the same or very similar.
I never sat in the NEZ, so I do have definitive numbers, but its probably close to 1 to 2. East and West upper decks are definitely steepest, probably 2 to 3 or 3 to 4.
Joel Goodson
- it's all ball bearings, nowadays
No mention of financial value is found in the news article. Hoping for a interview with Josh W, similar to after the Busey Bank patches were announced.
hooraybeer
- Peoria, IL
interesting. it feels like CAT continues to pull out of the area, so i’m not sure how to feel about this
No mention of State Farm Center - which I believe could happen.
A State problem, not a University problem. The University was lucky to get this, IMO.
Curbelo Fanboy
BERTBALL IS LIFE
I'm sure some will complain but this is the price to play the game. If it helps us get some 5 stars then slap logos all over the freaking field.
altgeld88
- Arlington, Virginia
Exactly, and sadly.
This is the direction of revenue college sports, for better or worse. I'm pleased that Josh is inking sponsors having deep, historical, local roots. If I had to pick a single corporate logo applied to the football field it would be CAT.
I would prefer Indian Motor Cycles logo
In Jerry’s World in Arlington, the Cowboys sell standing tickets at discounted rates but the stadium can do something like that. I used to go to games and stood the entire time and it didn’t cost me a bunch of money other than concessions. But Memorial Stadium doesn’t have that capacity to sell standing tickets.Standing frequently (for those that can) is something we should be encouraging a lot more often and would solve a lot of seat related concerns
Shief
- Champaign Area
I wonder if John Deere and Case New Holland (CNH) were in the running? Both have facilities in Illinois, good ties with the university, etc.
Fighter of the Nightman
- Chicago, IL
Thank you! That is surprising to me about the SEZ. Maybe it's sort of an optical illusion since the track having been there forced it to curve back at an "unnatural" angle unlike the rest of the stadium. However, it always just seemed like at the corners, it began jetting back at a different, more gradual angle than the West Main and East Main sections on either side, and it looked a lot flatter in comparison.
However, keeping what you said in mind, I guess I can see how the angle is probably exactly the same and just looks weird because the Horseshoe starts so much farther back AND elevated up in the air, haha. And that brings me to a point that I would love a way for an engineer to weigh in on...
Let's just imagine a scenario where the Horseshoe's foundation urgently needs repair, but Josh / the DIA are not ready for a renovation, and they plan to keep the same rounded shape in that part of the stadium ... could we ever take that opportunity to make the Horseshoe's incline closer to that of the NEZ or even the balconies?? Or would that be such a headache that at that point you just build something new? While the Horseshoe has a lot of problems for me, one huge one is just that it's way too short and not imposing enough. However, that section has TWICE as many seats as the much taller NEZ, so if we could just get those seats going more upward, it would be a huge improvement.
Battle89
- Cary-Grove, the better Trojan team
State Farm and their free cash flow may be otherwise occupied in the near future. Got personal experience with this one - me and three neighbors all had hail damage from a storm last year. I and two others without SF were fully covered, I got a new roof and full all-around siding for nothing. The one neighbor with SF got fully denied and not a penny. My roofer said he had not seen a SF claim approved in many months.
I am in Illinois but the case(s) are nationally spread, snip below is from Oklahoma. You see it's not just civil but the AG is involved too.
altgeld88
- Arlington, Virginia
Love the logo, but didn't it originate in Iowa?
Not to hijack the thread, but I have a similar story with State Farm only paying for part of a claim when one of their customers hit my vehicle. The other driver was 100% at fault yet it cost me $5,000.
I miss those awesome NEZ bleachers! Those were my favorite seats. Could sit 3 to 5 rows off the field, the team warmed up right in front of you. You could almost reach out and touch the action.Thank you! That is surprising to me about the SEZ. Maybe it's sort of an optical illusion since the track having been there forced it to curve back at an "unnatural" angle unlike the rest of the stadium. However, it always just seemed like at the corners, it began jetting back at a different, more gradual angle than the West Main and East Main sections on either side, and it looked a lot flatter in comparison.
However, keeping what you said in mind, I guess I can see how the angle is probably exactly the same and just looks weird because the Horseshoe starts so much farther back AND elevated up in the air, haha. And that brings me to a point that I would love a way for an engineer to weigh in on...
Let's just imagine a scenario where the Horseshoe's foundation urgently needs repair, but Josh / the DIA are not ready for a renovation, and they plan to keep the same rounded shape in that part of the stadium ... could we ever take that opportunity to make the Horseshoe's incline closer to that of the NEZ or even the balconies?? Or would that be such a headache that at that point you just build something new? While the Horseshoe has a lot of problems for me, one huge one is just that it's way too short and not imposing enough. However, that section has TWICE as many seats as the much taller NEZ, so if we could just get those seats going more upward, it would be a huge improvement.