Yea I know this topic been beaten to death. But feels like the perfect thread to get some discussion going and possibly boost numbers.

I kinda like Heinz Field as our home venue. Its much, much easier to get into and out of, even with parking lots becoming hotels and whatnot. From the South Hills, we're able to take the T straight to the Stadium, plus you have 28, and the Parkways to get out of town. Oakland is a straight ***** to get into and out of. And I totally understand the campus feeling and the old traditions of walking up "Cardiac Hill"(speaking of Cardiac Hill, seems like a perfect board name). I think there are pros and cons to each persons opinion.

Ah yes - the on campus/off campus stadium debate. Good choice in offseason topics. Call me crazy, but I don't think we could have officially called ourselves an "official" Pitt board if we didn't have a thread on this. In the same vain I will have to start the Script vs. Block Pitt debate. Then we'll be official.

My thoughts are the exact opposite of yours. I think an on campus stadium would be awesome. To be completely honest with you, it can still be a pain to get out of Heinz. I've had to sit in traffic quite often on my way out, particularly when I used to park in the Allegheny Center Garage. Now that I live in Mt. Washington it's easier to get out and a lot quicker, however, I've had to sit in traffic trying to get across the West End Bridge as well.

To be fair, it's less the traffic with Heinz than the lack of college atmosphere that bothers me. Everything important about the University of Pittsburgh is located in Oakland. With a stadium there, visitors could come and experience what our university is all about without having to go out of their way. Alumni and fans like us could just enjoy the campus and surrounding establishments. I've often wondered what it would be like to do some pre-game table-gating at Hemmingway's.

I will say that there have been some games where we did have a good atmosphere inside the stadium at Heinz. Namely the 2009 ND and Cincinnati games. I'm not sure that an on campus stadium would make the atmosphere within the confines that much better. Knowing our fan base, they would find some other reason not to show up (traffic into/out of Oakland, probably). While we could probably expect student turnout to be a little better, I wouldn't anticipate it would be much better. It's certainly a better deal for a student to roll out of bed at 11:30 and walk up a hill for a 12 o'clock kickoff rather than having to get up at 9:30 or whenever they get up to catch a bus to Heinz. At the same time, I think there are just a lot of students at Pitt who don't care about football at all. We'll probably never be converting them.

I think this is a moot point anyhow. I don't think we'll see an on campus stadium at Pitt for at least 50 years and possibly never again. The area being landlocked makes it really difficult and with the way budgets have been going I just can't see them spending the money to build one. I highly doubt the state is going to get involved because they have their own budget crisis and quite frankly I think it would be a waste of resources to 99% of Pennsylvanians.

What I would like to see, though, is this: a T that runs all the way from Squirrel Hill, through Shadyside, through Oakland, to downtown. With this in place, students could hop that and get either all the way to Heinz on it or at least to downtown where they could take the North Shore connector. This I actually believe is likely to happen in the future.

50-55K on campus stadium....

I'm obviously very selfish in my opinion. I do understand the campus atmosphere argument loud and clear. My biggest question in dealing w/ an on campus stadium is where would it be placed. I don't see that much room for a 50-55K stadium plus parking etc.

I agree with you Joey - I realize that it will probably never happen again - well at least for the another 50 years or so.

I think if Pitt got a major donation, they'd be able to buy a few blocks between Parkman and Bigelow Blvd.

I also do not like the atmosphere at Heinz Field. It is stale and not very college like. After the games the students have to fight for bus seats and the adults hang out at North Shore bars rather than campus. While it can still be fun it is more like a post Pirate game atmosphere than that of a college football game. I really don't like Heinz even for Steeler games. It is spread out and very quiet, does not hold in noise well at all. Heinz is also too big for Pitt. Pitt would be best served in a 50K seat stadium.

That said I have come to accept the fact that on-campus will never happen. The land and money just isn't there. Also, unlike' some of the SP haters on the other board, I don't blame the administration for the decision they made years ago. Given the resources that they had, it was the only smart move they could've made.