(09-26-2014 11:19 AM)ESE84 Wrote:  Saying the MOB is pretty thin is kind.

When I was a freshman (Jess Neely's last year) I was one of nine trumpets in the band - three of us on each of the three trumpet parts. Playing in a group that small, and I think today's MOB may be smaller (but I counted more than nine trumpets), is difficult - you feel like you can't afford to rest, even for a few seconds.

Having said that I thought the MOB sounded great this past Saturday - impressive volume given their small size.

The diminished participation in the MOB is certainly due to the less than adequate band hall they have to contend with now. I promise I'll build them a new one as soon as I win the lottery.

(09-24-2014 11:40 PM)RiceDad Wrote:  

(09-22-2014 11:58 AM)Antarius Wrote:  

(09-22-2014 10:51 AM)Barrett Wrote:  We all take exception to Rice being put on this list. But honestly, is Rice Stadium a great stadium to visit on game day? The only real thing going for it are the sightlines, right? I mean, the historic aspects don't mean anything to the casual visitor, and certainly the product on the field (including the no-name teams on the other side) aren't big draws. The crowds are anemic, the student section is small, the MOB is pretty thin. The concessions are terrible, and the stadium itself isn't some beautiful venue.

I go to as many home games as I can. But it's not out of rational decisionmaking, but rather loyalty.

I completely agree with this. The decrepit concourses, nasty bathrooms and general disrepair of the stadium make it well deserving to be on a "worst of" list. Heck, the bathrooms were overflowing and a total mess yesterday.

HRS could be a great stadium, but in the condition it is in now, it might be one of the worst gameday experiences overall.

As I said above, the list is BS because Apogee stadium is very nice. The author cannot seem to differentiate between the stadium and the quality of the team/crowd.

Guys,
I think you are all pretty much full of ****!! What is decrepit about the concourses? They are wide and make it very easy to get to your seats. I have taken a squirt at HRS about once a year over the last ten seasons and found the experience light years ahead of POS Kyle Field!!! The food service isn't great, but it works fine. The sight lines are,still the best in the country. I go to the R Room at halftime for a glass or two of wine, and it's a pleasant experience, depending on how the team is doing! Tell me what stadiums you like better....please leave out the taxpayer funded stadia!!

The concourses are a mess, especially on the visitor side. You get even 20k people in the stands and it is almost impossible to walk. The scoreboard looks like crap, the bathrooms are nasty (if not flooding) and the press box requires people to walk-like-an-Egyptian down the hallway.

I think what we are saying is that HRS is a mess, but it doesn't have to be. A little investment and smart maintenance and it would be good to go. No disagreement on the quality of the sightlines - which is why we should fix it up and actually take care of it for once.

As for nice stadiums, how about Apogee? Stanford? SMU?

(09-24-2014 11:40 PM)RiceDad Wrote:  I go to the R Room at halftime for a glass or two of wine, and it's a pleasant experience, depending on how the team is doing!

I guess the solution is that Rice should open up the R Room to everybody (including fans of the opposing side) to improve everyone's game day experience . . .

(09-26-2014 12:12 PM)AnotherOldOwl Wrote:  

(09-26-2014 11:19 AM)ESE84 Wrote:  Saying the MOB is pretty thin is kind.

When I was a freshman (Jess Neely's last year) I was one of nine trumpets in the band - three of us on each of the three trumpet parts. Playing in a group that small, and I think today's MOB may be smaller (but I counted more than nine trumpets), is difficult - you feel like you can't afford to rest, even for a few seconds.

Having said that I thought the MOB sounded great this past Saturday - impressive volume given their small size.

The diminished participation in the MOB is certainly due to the less than adequate band hall they have to contend with now. I promise I'll build them a new one as soon as I win the lottery.

We had nine trumpets at the ODU game.
Doubt that we bothered making sure there was a 3/3/3 distribution of parts.

The band hall inadequate for a Class 1A junior high is certainly part of our retention issue.
It's also part of our recruiting issue, although a larger part of the recruiting issue is that we aren't allowed to recruit over the summer.

I am also committed to funding a new band building, after I win the lottery.

In hindsight, I should have gone after that robber-barron degree after all, if only to save The MOB. Who knew?