The South Dakota State @ Northern Iowa Game Thread

[run&blade]

Re: The South Dakota State @ Northern Iowa Game Thread

The field is absolute crap, you could literally roll your ankle on the field in many spots.

Several gaps are more than an inch wide in spots and you can see them from the stands.

Maybe it isn't possible to have a nice field if you have to roll it up every year.

Would it be possible to have permanent turf and lay some sort of boards over it for track and other events?

[panther-state]

Re: The South Dakota State @ Northern Iowa Game Thread

The field is absolute crap, you could literally roll your ankle on the field in many spots.

Several gaps are more than an inch wide in spots and you can see them from the stands.

Maybe it isn't possible to have a nice field if you have to roll it up every year.

Would it be possible to have permanent turf and lay some sort of boards over it for track and other events?

A removable track would arguably be more expensive and more dangerous than a removable turf. The turf at least has some natural give to its surface and texture so while it isn't perfect, you're not likely to get and entire spike or clear stuck in it. Now imagine wearing spikes at a track meet, running full speed on a 400 and your tiny metal spike lands just right inside of a small gap between two removable pieces of the track. It would not be pretty.

I actually wonder now if there are any examples of this in the college sports world

[PantherFan]

Re: The South Dakota State @ Northern Iowa Game Thread

A removable track would arguably be more expensive and more dangerous than a removable turf. The turf at least has some natural give to its surface and texture so while it isn't perfect, you're not likely to get and entire spike or clear stuck in it. Now imagine wearing spikes at a track meet, running full speed on a 400 and your tiny metal spike lands just right inside of a small gap between two removable pieces of the track. It would not be pretty.

I actually wonder now if there are any examples of this in the college sports world

Boston College, Arkansas, Kentucky and Virginia Tech according to this article:

http://globenewswire.com/news-release/2014/03/06/616185/10071444/en/Mondo-s-indoor-portable-banked-track-to-serve-as-competition-surface-for-IAAF-World-Indoor-Championships.html

[UNIpanther99]

Re: The South Dakota State @ Northern Iowa Game Thread

Yep, the NCAA championships and other high-caliber meets are on portable banked tracks. Not only would this make the turf situation better, it would give us a chance to host a championship event. I'm sure they're super expensive, but I hope it's an option they look into down the road.

[panther-state]

Re: The South Dakota State @ Northern Iowa Game Thread

Boston College, Arkansas, Kentucky and Virginia Tech according to this article:

http://globenewswire.com/news-releas...pionships.html

I wonder how it's broken down. I'm just surprised you'd let something like a track be pieced together like that. I would think there's a lot that can go wrong if it's not perfect

[BCPanther]

Re: The South Dakota State @ Northern Iowa Game Thread

The turf doesn't even get to stay down for all of football. It was pulled up for the craft show two weekends ago and now it's up for a wrestling tournament this weekend.

There's probably a better option, but I I'm guessing it's way out of our price range.

[UNIdad]

Re: The South Dakota State @ Northern Iowa Game Thread

The turf doesn't even get to stay down for all of football. It was pulled up for the craft show two weekends ago and now it's up for a wrestling tournament this weekend.

There's probably a better option, but I I'm guessing it's way out of our price range.

The BO during those wrestling events probably damages the turf more than a football game.

[Panther-Sheik]

Re: The South Dakota State @ Northern Iowa Game Thread

Boston College, Arkansas, Kentucky and Virginia Tech according to this article:

http://globenewswire.com/news-releas...pionships.html

If I remember right they looked at this option back when they were investigating the turf options. I think Goepfert (sp?) was the coach for that one year and I remember talking to him about it and he was lobbying for a portable / banked track but I think he did say it was really expensive.

Ironically, I also think that Mondo is the company that did our turf. I don't know how much we cheaped out on it vs. just being a guinea pig for something that had never really been done before (roll up the turf in large section rolls). Safe to say that the experiment failed on many levels I'd say.

I do think the university filed some claims against the company for the way the turf has not held up and performed as they claimed it would. Not sure what the useful life of any turf is, but I have to believe this turf is going to be replaced in the next couple years if $$ can be found for it. Looks bush league and not sure if it would be considered unsafe in any way?

[run&blade]

Re: The South Dakota State @ Northern Iowa Game Thread

I am an all or nothing kind of person. Save up and aim for the perfect solution or do nothing until you can.

I have said in the past I would charge a lot more for the Iowa High School playoff games. Bunch of old fat guys getting rich in Boone off all the money gathered in the playoffs. If the high school athletic association wants to put their foot down just tell them, "good luck playing outdoor football at Valley Stadium in the middle of November".

I would also charge $5 a car to tailgate and have all that money go to PSC. I don't think anybody would complain at all and it would be like free money.

[Geno4UNI]

Re: The South Dakota State @ Northern Iowa Game Thread

I am an all or nothing kind of person. Save up and aim for the perfect solution or do nothing until you can.

I have said in the past I would charge a lot more for the Iowa High School playoff games. Bunch of old fat guys getting rich in Boone off all the money gathered in the playoffs. If the high school athletic association wants to put their foot down just tell them, "good luck playing outdoor football at Valley Stadium in the middle of November".

I would also charge $5 a car to tailgate and have all that money go to PSC. I don't think anybody would complain at all and it would be like free money.

I have thought about the parking charge for the last few weeks. I am very much in favor of charging but the argument I always hear on this site is that it will hurt tailgating and or attendance. I suggest that they start charging $5 per car 2 hours prior to kick off. By doing this you don't discourage people from coming but you encourage them to come earlier and tailgate which will enhance the tailgating atmosphere.

[ronfitch]

Re: The South Dakota State @ Northern Iowa Game Thread

I have thought about the parking charge for the last few weeks. I am very much in favor of charging but the argument I always hear on this site is that it will hurt tailgating and or attendance. I suggest that they start charging $5 per car 2 hours prior to kick off. By doing this you don't discourage people from coming but you encourage them to come earlier and tailgate which will enhance the tailgating atmosphere.

- Charge for the lots west of Hudson Road and the two big lots just east of Hudson on either side of 23rd Street (in front of the Ed Bldg, where Latham Stadium used to be and only the lot in the northeast corner of the Hudson-23rd intersection).

- Create a designated "Northern Iowa Tailgating Zone" in that lot west of the dome and sell a window decal for entry that reads something like, "Designated University of Northern Iowa Tailgating Vehicle" for the same price as it would cost to park in any of the pay lots for all home games - those folks have to actually stick it in the window and there it is for at least the football season, driving all over NE Iowa, the state and hopefully the region for others to see in traffic. Maybe let them "buy" their tailgating spot for the season.

- Charge more for the closer lot behind - convenience has a cost. Maybe set something special there as well.

- Still plenty of free parking still on campus with a safe walkway over Hudson Road. This gives folks the choice - park for free or pay $5 to park closer or $10 for the ultra primo lot.

- Maybe set up shuttle buses for the further out pay lots, free for those folks who want to use it (in good weather, I suspect many won't). Run it through the free lots and offer $1 two-day tickets for those folks.

At the No Colorado game this year, I was AMAZED at how much that has grown.