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Temple has no official Football home for 2020...yet
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PowderKeg! Offline
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Post: #161
RE: Temple has no official Football home for 2020...yet
Why not just build the stadium where Greasey Field and tennis complex are? Then move those facilities to where Temple originally wanted to build the stadium? You’d receive less push back from residence putting tennis courts and a grassy field there in a neighborhood
(This post was last modified: 02-17-2020 11:02 PM by PowderKeg!.)
02-16-2020 08:56 AM
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panite Offline
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Post: #162
RE: Temple has no official Football home for 2020...yet
(02-16-2020 08:56 AM)PowderKeg! Wrote:  Why not just build the stadium where Greasey Field and tennis complex are? Then move this facilities to where Temple originally wanted to build the stadium? You’d receive less push back from residence putting tennis courts and a grassy field there in a neighborhood

Could it be that this is the back up plan? Any feed back Temple? 04-jawdrop 02-13-banana 02-13-banana 03-shhhh 03-idea COGS COGS 04-cheers
02-16-2020 10:47 AM
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Fishpro10987 Offline
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Post: #163
RE: Temple has no official Football home for 2020...yet
(02-16-2020 10:47 AM)panite Wrote:  
(02-16-2020 08:56 AM)PowderKeg! Wrote:  Why not just build the stadium where Greasey Field and tennis complex are? Then move this facilities to where Temple originally wanted to build the stadium? You’d receive less push back from residence putting tennis courts and a grassy field there in a neighborhood

Could it be that this is the back up plan? Any feed back Temple? 04-jawdrop 02-13-banana 02-13-banana 03-shhhh 03-idea COGS COGS 04-cheers

Because... Temple.


I do think they wanted both sports complexes side by side. You know, that 'front porch of the university ' kind of thing.
02-16-2020 12:50 PM
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UofMemphis Away
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Post: #164
RE: Temple has no official Football home for 2020...yet
(02-16-2020 08:56 AM)PowderKeg! Wrote:  Why not just build the stadium where Greasey Field and tennis complex are? Then move this facilities to where Temple originally wanted to build the stadium? You’d receive less push back from residence putting tennis courts and a grassy field there in a neighborhood

that's where it should be. Do like Tulane and build a Yulman Stadium...put the low side towards Norris street to make the neighbors happy. That's how Tulane kept their wealthy neighbors happy when they made a fuss.

[Image: tulane-university-website.jpg]
02-16-2020 01:07 PM
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jedclampett Offline
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Post: #165
RE: Temple has no official Football home for 2020...yet
(02-16-2020 01:07 PM)UofMemphis Wrote:  
(02-16-2020 08:56 AM)PowderKeg! Wrote:  Why not just build the stadium where Greasey Field and tennis complex are? Then move this facilities to where Temple originally wanted to build the stadium? You’d receive less push back from residence putting tennis courts and a grassy field there in a neighborhood

that's where it should be. Do like Tulane and build a Yulman Stadium...put the low side towards Norris street to make the neighbors happy. That's how Tulane kept their wealthy neighbors happy when they made a fuss.

[Image: tulane-university-website.jpg]

It's not Temple's fault. The University leadership's only mistake was thinking (magically) that, somehow, by spending a couple of million on feasibility studies and architectural drawings, they could somehow succeed in charming or pressuring the City Council to allow them to build a stadium that the City Council has long been opposed to building.

As it turned out, no feasibility studies, no public pressure campaign, and no cajoling or sweet-talking was the least persuasive to the City Council. Rather than attempting to seek the support of the City Government to obtain a reasonable rental agreement from the publicly funded and co-owned Lincoln Financial Field, the University shot itself in the foot by alienating the City Council, attempting to force through an embarrasingly mediocre stadium proposal that the City, many of its residents, and the majority of Temple students, faculty, staff, and even a sizable contingent of TUFB fans clearly did not support.

It's not Temple University's fault, and it's not the fault of the City of Philadelphia. To understand what happened, a little history is in order. Decades ago, Temple's (and Navy's) legendary former Head Coach - Wayne Hardin - decided that it was in the best interest of Temple's Football program to return to the big-time, or what is now known as the FBS level, to make their way into the nascent Big East FB Conference, and to move their home field from their historic 1920's Temple Stadium all the way downtown to Veteran's Stadium, the home of the Philadelphia Eagles.

Hardin's decision paid off, at first, and Temple began to have at least a modicum of success playing against major east coast teams such as Pitt, Syracuse, and Boston College. His successor, Bruce Arians, also had a modicum of success. However, a series of unsuccessful head coaches led the program into a situation resembling that of UConn FB in 2020. The program lost their FB-only membership in the BE and teetered on the brink of collapse for a couple of years, with a brief stint as an independent, followed by a few years in the MAC. If that wasn't bad enough, and to top it all off, Veteran's Stadium, their home field, was demolished.

Then, things began to turn around. Al Golden came north from Miami and started to bring in some quality recruits, and their new home at Lincoln Financial Field rose up like a metaphorical Phoenix from the ashes of Veteran's Stadium and the painful memories of playing in front of a few hundred fans at the nadir of TUFB's history at the FBS level.

Soon after Golden got the program humming along nicely in the MAC, he received an invitation to take a P5 coaching gig, the first in a series of Head Coaches for whom a stint at Temple turned out to be a stepping stone to coaching gigs at B.C., Baylor, and Georgia Tech.

As we all know, now, there was Rhule, and Addazio, and Collins, and suddenly the Temple Owls (aka. Bubo "Phoenixensis") began to emerge as a potential FBS power in the American Athletic Conference after a brief reminiscence in the Big East during the 2012 FB season.

In short, everything was going swimmingly for Temple, other than having to reboot with a new Head Coach every 2-3 years.

Everything, that is, except for a new nemesis, known as.........Jeff Lurie.

As soon as the Owls began to benefit from the success that came with becoming an all-sports of the Big East's successor conference, Lurie began to make more and more stringent demands on Temple, a state-related university with a modest endowment and a historic mission to serve the large population of urban residents with limited incomes whose only opportunity at a college education was to attend Temple.

Lurie saw the opportunity to cash in on this public university's future income generating potential and began to turn the screws in every way he could, finding every opportunity to put pressure on the university, and hinting loudly that it would be his preference to refuse to allow the Owls to play on what he considered "his" (publicly funded and city-co-owned) football field.

The rest should be fairly obvious now. It is not Temple's fault that they decided to take the opportunity to move into the "big-time" (aka FBS), to join a major conference (BE FB), and to play in an NFL stadium. In fact, it turned out to be the right move, and it was made by the team's legendary former FB HC. The City was not at fault, and indeed made every effort to make it possible for Temple to play in the City's NFL stadium (Vet's Stadium, and then the Linc).

So who was at fault? The answer should be obvious by now. "J.L."

So, why on earth did Temple University suddenly change its mind and attempt to build a mediocre little stadium near its campus after the program had made such a successful long-term effort to move their games into the big-time NFL stadium?

The answer is very simple: Eagles Owner, Jeff Lurie.

Lurie's efforts to extract the maximum amount that he could possibly get out of Temple University were so extreme, persistent, and unreasonable that Temple's Board of Trustees eventually concluded that the only possible option would be for the University to attempt to build a new stadium adjacent to their campus.

The rest is history, and has been summarized above. The City Council was dead set against it. Temple thus had no option but to either agree to Lurie's exorbitant demands, or to find another place to play their home games, such as at U. Pennsylvania's Franklin Field (former home of the Eagles).

Interestingly, when push has come to shove, Lurie has in each case - ultimately - backed down after months or years of driving the hardest bargain that he could and refusing in each instance to show the slightest hint of willingness to settle for an amount that the university could afford.

So that's the story. Temple never wanted to build a stadium on campus. There was no room for it, the traffic would be horrible, the neighborhood residents were opposed to it, there would be no tailgating, and the vast majority of Temple personnel were against it. Nor was there was any support for the idea from the majority of fans who attended Temple's games in a state of the art NFL stadium.

Who was at fault for the whole mess? Eagles Owner Jeff Lurie.

He has now backed down, once again, after months/years of posturing and pretended reluctance to host Temple FB games. Temple has just gotten yet another all-too-brief (5 pitiful years) contract extension, and will no doubt have to repeat the excruciating process of trying to get a reasonable rental agreement from the grand bourgeoise capitalist extraordinaire who deigns to treat the citizenry of the municipality with the delights of his fabulously entertaining franchise. And lucky they are! Aren't they?
(This post was last modified: 02-16-2020 05:47 PM by jedclampett.)
02-16-2020 05:37 PM
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panite Offline
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Post: #166
RE: Temple has no official Football home for 2020...yet
(02-16-2020 05:37 PM)jedclampett Wrote:  
(02-16-2020 01:07 PM)UofMemphis Wrote:  
(02-16-2020 08:56 AM)PowderKeg! Wrote:  Why not just build the stadium where Greasey Field and tennis complex are? Then move this facilities to where Temple originally wanted to build the stadium? You’d receive less push back from residence putting tennis courts and a grassy field there in a neighborhood

that's where it should be. Do like Tulane and build a Yulman Stadium...put the low side towards Norris street to make the neighbors happy. That's how Tulane kept their wealthy neighbors happy when they made a fuss.

[Image: tulane-university-website.jpg]

It's not Temple's fault. The University leadership's only mistake was thinking (magically) that, somehow, by spending a couple of million on feasibility studies and architectural drawings, they could somehow succeed in charming or pressuring the City Council to allow them to build a stadium that the City Council has long been opposed to building.

As it turned out, no feasibility studies, no public pressure campaign, and no cajoling or sweet-talking was the least persuasive to the City Council. Rather than attempting to seek the support of the City Government to obtain a reasonable rental agreement from the publicly funded and co-owned Lincoln Financial Field, the University shot itself in the foot by alienating the City Council, attempting to force through an embarrasingly mediocre stadium proposal that the City, many of its residents, and the majority of Temple students, faculty, staff, and even a sizable contingent of TUFB fans clearly did not support.

It's not Temple University's fault, and it's not the fault of the City of Philadelphia. To understand what happened, a little history is in order. Decades ago, Temple's (and Navy's) legendary former Head Coach - Wayne Hardin - decided that it was in the best interest of Temple's Football program to return to the big-time, or what is now known as the FBS level, to make their way into the nascent Big East FB Conference, and to move their home field from their historic 1920's Temple Stadium all the way downtown to Veteran's Stadium, the home of the Philadelphia Eagles.

Hardin's decision paid off, at first, and Temple began to have at least a modicum of success playing against major east coast teams such as Pitt, Syracuse, and Boston College. His successor, Bruce Arians, also had a modicum of success. However, a series of unsuccessful head coaches led the program into a situation resembling that of UConn FB in 2020. The program lost their FB-only membership in the BE and teetered on the brink of collapse for a couple of years, with a brief stint as an independent, followed by a few years in the MAC. If that wasn't bad enough, and to top it all off, Veteran's Stadium, their home field, was demolished.

Then, things began to turn around. Al Golden came north from Miami and started to bring in some quality recruits, and their new home at Lincoln Financial Field rose up like a metaphorical Phoenix from the ashes of Veteran's Stadium and the painful memories of playing in front of a few hundred fans at the nadir of TUFB's history at the FBS level.

Soon after Golden got the program humming along nicely in the MAC, he received an invitation to take a P5 coaching gig, the first in a series of Head Coaches for whom a stint at Temple turned out to be a stepping stone to coaching gigs at B.C., Baylor, and Georgia Tech.

As we all know, now, there was Rhule, and Addazio, and Collins, and suddenly the Temple Owls (aka. Bubo "Phoenixensis") began to emerge as a potential FBS power in the American Athletic Conference after a brief reminiscence in the Big East during the 2012 FB season.

In short, everything was going swimmingly for Temple, other than having to reboot with a new Head Coach every 2-3 years.

Everything, that is, except for a new nemesis, known as.........Jeff Lurie.

As soon as the Owls began to benefit from the success that came with becoming an all-sports of the Big East's successor conference, Lurie began to make more and more stringent demands on Temple, a state-related university with a modest endowment and a historic mission to serve the large population of urban residents with limited incomes whose only opportunity at a college education was to attend Temple.

Lurie saw the opportunity to cash in on this public university's future income generating potential and began to turn the screws in every way he could, finding every opportunity to put pressure on the university, and hinting loudly that it would be his preference to refuse to allow the Owls to play on what he considered "his" (publicly funded and city-co-owned) football field.

The rest should be fairly obvious now. It is not Temple's fault that they decided to take the opportunity to move into the "big-time" (aka FBS), to join a major conference (BE FB), and to play in an NFL stadium. In fact, it turned out to be the right move, and it was made by the team's legendary former FB HC. The City was not at fault, and indeed made every effort to make it possible for Temple to play in the City's NFL stadium (Vet's Stadium, and then the Linc).

So who was at fault? The answer should be obvious by now. "J.L."

So, why on earth did Temple University suddenly change its mind and attempt to build a mediocre little stadium near its campus after the program had made such a successful long-term effort to move their games into the big-time NFL stadium?

The answer is very simple: Eagles Owner, Jeff Lurie.

Lurie's efforts to extract the maximum amount that he could possibly get out of Temple University were so extreme, persistent, and unreasonable that Temple's Board of Trustees eventually concluded that the only possible option would be for the University to attempt to build a new stadium adjacent to their campus.

The rest is history, and has been summarized above. The City Council was dead set against it. Temple thus had no option but to either agree to Lurie's exorbitant demands, or to find another place to play their home games, such as at U. Pennsylvania's Franklin Field (former home of the Eagles).

Interestingly, when push has come to shove, Lurie has in each case - ultimately - backed down after months or years of driving the hardest bargain that he could and refusing in each instance to show the slightest hint of willingness to settle for an amount that the university could afford.

So that's the story. Temple never wanted to build a stadium on campus. There was no room for it, the traffic would be horrible, the neighborhood residents were opposed to it, there would be no tailgating, and the vast majority of Temple personnel were against it. Nor was there was any support for the idea from the majority of fans who attended Temple's games in a state of the art NFL stadium.

Who was at fault for the whole mess? Eagles Owner Jeff Lurie.

He has now backed down, once again, after months/years of posturing and pretended reluctance to host Temple FB games. Temple has just gotten yet another all-too-brief (5 pitiful years) contract extension, and will no doubt have to repeat the excruciating process of trying to get a reasonable rental agreement from the grand bourgeoise capitalist extraordinaire who deigns to treat the citizenry of the municipality with the delights of his fabulously entertaining franchise. And lucky they are! Aren't they?

So is the "Cliff's Notes Version" a fact that Temple will still be playing at the LINC 10 years from now with their option to re-up the contract after the first 5 years is completed? If so I'm happy with that. It's a lot easier to get to the South Philly Sports Complex off of 95 than it is to get to the Temple Campus with limited parking and tailgating opportunities. 04-jawdrop 02-13-banana 02-13-banana 04-rock COGS COGS 04-cheers
02-17-2020 09:07 AM
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jedclampett Offline
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Post: #167
RE: Temple has no official Football home for 2020...yet
(02-17-2020 09:07 AM)panite Wrote:  
(02-16-2020 05:37 PM)jedclampett Wrote:  
(02-16-2020 01:07 PM)UofMemphis Wrote:  
(02-16-2020 08:56 AM)PowderKeg! Wrote:  Why not just build the stadium where Greasey Field and tennis complex are? Then move this facilities to where Temple originally wanted to build the stadium? You’d receive less push back from residence putting tennis courts and a grassy field there in a neighborhood

that's where it should be. Do like Tulane and build a Yulman Stadium...put the low side towards Norris street to make the neighbors happy. That's how Tulane kept their wealthy neighbors happy when they made a fuss.

[Image: tulane-university-website.jpg]

It's not Temple's fault. The University leadership's only mistake was thinking (magically) that, somehow, by spending a couple of million on feasibility studies and architectural drawings, they could somehow succeed in charming or pressuring the City Council to allow them to build a stadium that the City Council has long been opposed to building.

As it turned out, no feasibility studies, no public pressure campaign, and no cajoling or sweet-talking was the least persuasive to the City Council. Rather than attempting to seek the support of the City Government to obtain a reasonable rental agreement from the publicly funded and co-owned Lincoln Financial Field, the University shot itself in the foot by alienating the City Council, attempting to force through an embarrasingly mediocre stadium proposal that the City, many of its residents, and the majority of Temple students, faculty, staff, and even a sizable contingent of TUFB fans clearly did not support.

It's not Temple University's fault, and it's not the fault of the City of Philadelphia. To understand what happened, a little history is in order. Decades ago, Temple's (and Navy's) legendary former Head Coach - Wayne Hardin - decided that it was in the best interest of Temple's Football program to return to the big-time, or what is now known as the FBS level, to make their way into the nascent Big East FB Conference, and to move their home field from their historic 1920's Temple Stadium all the way downtown to Veteran's Stadium, the home of the Philadelphia Eagles.

Hardin's decision paid off, at first, and Temple began to have at least a modicum of success playing against major east coast teams such as Pitt, Syracuse, and Boston College. His successor, Bruce Arians, also had a modicum of success. However, a series of unsuccessful head coaches led the program into a situation resembling that of UConn FB in 2020. The program lost their FB-only membership in the BE and teetered on the brink of collapse for a couple of years, with a brief stint as an independent, followed by a few years in the MAC. If that wasn't bad enough, and to top it all off, Veteran's Stadium, their home field, was demolished.

Then, things began to turn around. Al Golden came north from Miami and started to bring in some quality recruits, and their new home at Lincoln Financial Field rose up like a metaphorical Phoenix from the ashes of Veteran's Stadium and the painful memories of playing in front of a few hundred fans at the nadir of TUFB's history at the FBS level.

Soon after Golden got the program humming along nicely in the MAC, he received an invitation to take a P5 coaching gig, the first in a series of Head Coaches for whom a stint at Temple turned out to be a stepping stone to coaching gigs at B.C., Baylor, and Georgia Tech.

As we all know, now, there was Rhule, and Addazio, and Collins, and suddenly the Temple Owls (aka. Bubo "Phoenixensis") began to emerge as a potential FBS power in the American Athletic Conference after a brief reminiscence in the Big East during the 2012 FB season.

In short, everything was going swimmingly for Temple, other than having to reboot with a new Head Coach every 2-3 years.

Everything, that is, except for a new nemesis, known as.........Jeff Lurie.

As soon as the Owls began to benefit from the success that came with becoming an all-sports of the Big East's successor conference, Lurie began to make more and more stringent demands on Temple, a state-related university with a modest endowment and a historic mission to serve the large population of urban residents with limited incomes whose only opportunity at a college education was to attend Temple.

Lurie saw the opportunity to cash in on this public university's future income generating potential and began to turn the screws in every way he could, finding every opportunity to put pressure on the university, and hinting loudly that it would be his preference to refuse to allow the Owls to play on what he considered "his" (publicly funded and city-co-owned) football field.

The rest should be fairly obvious now. It is not Temple's fault that they decided to take the opportunity to move into the "big-time" (aka FBS), to join a major conference (BE FB), and to play in an NFL stadium. In fact, it turned out to be the right move, and it was made by the team's legendary former FB HC. The City was not at fault, and indeed made every effort to make it possible for Temple to play in the City's NFL stadium (Vet's Stadium, and then the Linc).

So who was at fault? The answer should be obvious by now. "J.L."

So, why on earth did Temple University suddenly change its mind and attempt to build a mediocre little stadium near its campus after the program had made such a successful long-term effort to move their games into the big-time NFL stadium?

The answer is very simple: Eagles Owner, Jeff Lurie.

Lurie's efforts to extract the maximum amount that he could possibly get out of Temple University were so extreme, persistent, and unreasonable that Temple's Board of Trustees eventually concluded that the only possible option would be for the University to attempt to build a new stadium adjacent to their campus.

The rest is history, and has been summarized above. The City Council was dead set against it. Temple thus had no option but to either agree to Lurie's exorbitant demands, or to find another place to play their home games, such as at U. Pennsylvania's Franklin Field (former home of the Eagles).

Interestingly, when push has come to shove, Lurie has in each case - ultimately - backed down after months or years of driving the hardest bargain that he could and refusing in each instance to show the slightest hint of willingness to settle for an amount that the university could afford.

So that's the story. Temple never wanted to build a stadium on campus. There was no room for it, the traffic would be horrible, the neighborhood residents were opposed to it, there would be no tailgating, and the vast majority of Temple personnel were against it. Nor was there was any support for the idea from the majority of fans who attended Temple's games in a state of the art NFL stadium.

Who was at fault for the whole mess? Eagles Owner Jeff Lurie.

He has now backed down, once again, after months/years of posturing and pretended reluctance to host Temple FB games. Temple has just gotten yet another all-too-brief (5 pitiful years) contract extension, and will no doubt have to repeat the excruciating process of trying to get a reasonable rental agreement from the grand bourgeoise capitalist extraordinaire who deigns to treat the citizenry of the municipality with the delights of his fabulously entertaining franchise. And lucky they are! Aren't they?

So is the "Cliff's Notes Version" a fact that Temple will still be playing at the LINC 10 years from now with their option to re-up the contract after the first 5 years is completed? If so I'm happy with that. It's a lot easier to get to the South Philly Sports Complex off of 95 than it is to get to the Temple Campus with limited parking and tailgating opportunities. 04-jawdrop 02-13-banana 02-13-banana 04-rock COGS COGS 04-cheers

Right. Temple and AAC FB fans have plenty of reason to be happy with the outcome, especially if they do have the option to re-up after 5 years.

AAC teams and fans that visit Philadelphia for games are much better off at the Lincoln Financial Field. NFL amenities, excellent tailgating, good transportation access & parking, comfortable seating with good sightlines, dining, the whole nine yards.

Why Jeff Lurie has acted like such a dufus every time Temple has needed to renew their rental agreements is a mystery. He should have realized, long ago, that it should simply be renewed with a cost of living adjustment each time and no controversy.
02-17-2020 01:29 PM
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Off_The_Hook Offline
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Post: #168
RE: Temple has no official Football home for 2020...yet
(02-17-2020 01:29 PM)jedclampett Wrote:  
(02-17-2020 09:07 AM)panite Wrote:  
(02-16-2020 05:37 PM)jedclampett Wrote:  
(02-16-2020 01:07 PM)UofMemphis Wrote:  
(02-16-2020 08:56 AM)PowderKeg! Wrote:  Why not just build the stadium where Greasey Field and tennis complex are? Then move this facilities to where Temple originally wanted to build the stadium? You’d receive less push back from residence putting tennis courts and a grassy field there in a neighborhood

that's where it should be. Do like Tulane and build a Yulman Stadium...put the low side towards Norris street to make the neighbors happy. That's how Tulane kept their wealthy neighbors happy when they made a fuss.

[Image: tulane-university-website.jpg]

It's not Temple's fault. The University leadership's only mistake was thinking (magically) that, somehow, by spending a couple of million on feasibility studies and architectural drawings, they could somehow succeed in charming or pressuring the City Council to allow them to build a stadium that the City Council has long been opposed to building.

As it turned out, no feasibility studies, no public pressure campaign, and no cajoling or sweet-talking was the least persuasive to the City Council. Rather than attempting to seek the support of the City Government to obtain a reasonable rental agreement from the publicly funded and co-owned Lincoln Financial Field, the University shot itself in the foot by alienating the City Council, attempting to force through an embarrasingly mediocre stadium proposal that the City, many of its residents, and the majority of Temple students, faculty, staff, and even a sizable contingent of TUFB fans clearly did not support.

It's not Temple University's fault, and it's not the fault of the City of Philadelphia. To understand what happened, a little history is in order. Decades ago, Temple's (and Navy's) legendary former Head Coach - Wayne Hardin - decided that it was in the best interest of Temple's Football program to return to the big-time, or what is now known as the FBS level, to make their way into the nascent Big East FB Conference, and to move their home field from their historic 1920's Temple Stadium all the way downtown to Veteran's Stadium, the home of the Philadelphia Eagles.

Hardin's decision paid off, at first, and Temple began to have at least a modicum of success playing against major east coast teams such as Pitt, Syracuse, and Boston College. His successor, Bruce Arians, also had a modicum of success. However, a series of unsuccessful head coaches led the program into a situation resembling that of UConn FB in 2020. The program lost their FB-only membership in the BE and teetered on the brink of collapse for a couple of years, with a brief stint as an independent, followed by a few years in the MAC. If that wasn't bad enough, and to top it all off, Veteran's Stadium, their home field, was demolished.

Then, things began to turn around. Al Golden came north from Miami and started to bring in some quality recruits, and their new home at Lincoln Financial Field rose up like a metaphorical Phoenix from the ashes of Veteran's Stadium and the painful memories of playing in front of a few hundred fans at the nadir of TUFB's history at the FBS level.

Soon after Golden got the program humming along nicely in the MAC, he received an invitation to take a P5 coaching gig, the first in a series of Head Coaches for whom a stint at Temple turned out to be a stepping stone to coaching gigs at B.C., Baylor, and Georgia Tech.

As we all know, now, there was Rhule, and Addazio, and Collins, and suddenly the Temple Owls (aka. Bubo "Phoenixensis") began to emerge as a potential FBS power in the American Athletic Conference after a brief reminiscence in the Big East during the 2012 FB season.

In short, everything was going swimmingly for Temple, other than having to reboot with a new Head Coach every 2-3 years.

Everything, that is, except for a new nemesis, known as.........Jeff Lurie.

As soon as the Owls began to benefit from the success that came with becoming an all-sports of the Big East's successor conference, Lurie began to make more and more stringent demands on Temple, a state-related university with a modest endowment and a historic mission to serve the large population of urban residents with limited incomes whose only opportunity at a college education was to attend Temple.

Lurie saw the opportunity to cash in on this public university's future income generating potential and began to turn the screws in every way he could, finding every opportunity to put pressure on the university, and hinting loudly that it would be his preference to refuse to allow the Owls to play on what he considered "his" (publicly funded and city-co-owned) football field.

The rest should be fairly obvious now. It is not Temple's fault that they decided to take the opportunity to move into the "big-time" (aka FBS), to join a major conference (BE FB), and to play in an NFL stadium. In fact, it turned out to be the right move, and it was made by the team's legendary former FB HC. The City was not at fault, and indeed made every effort to make it possible for Temple to play in the City's NFL stadium (Vet's Stadium, and then the Linc).

So who was at fault? The answer should be obvious by now. "J.L."

So, why on earth did Temple University suddenly change its mind and attempt to build a mediocre little stadium near its campus after the program had made such a successful long-term effort to move their games into the big-time NFL stadium?

The answer is very simple: Eagles Owner, Jeff Lurie.

Lurie's efforts to extract the maximum amount that he could possibly get out of Temple University were so extreme, persistent, and unreasonable that Temple's Board of Trustees eventually concluded that the only possible option would be for the University to attempt to build a new stadium adjacent to their campus.

The rest is history, and has been summarized above. The City Council was dead set against it. Temple thus had no option but to either agree to Lurie's exorbitant demands, or to find another place to play their home games, such as at U. Pennsylvania's Franklin Field (former home of the Eagles).

Interestingly, when push has come to shove, Lurie has in each case - ultimately - backed down after months or years of driving the hardest bargain that he could and refusing in each instance to show the slightest hint of willingness to settle for an amount that the university could afford.

So that's the story. Temple never wanted to build a stadium on campus. There was no room for it, the traffic would be horrible, the neighborhood residents were opposed to it, there would be no tailgating, and the vast majority of Temple personnel were against it. Nor was there was any support for the idea from the majority of fans who attended Temple's games in a state of the art NFL stadium.

Who was at fault for the whole mess? Eagles Owner Jeff Lurie.

He has now backed down, once again, after months/years of posturing and pretended reluctance to host Temple FB games. Temple has just gotten yet another all-too-brief (5 pitiful years) contract extension, and will no doubt have to repeat the excruciating process of trying to get a reasonable rental agreement from the grand bourgeoise capitalist extraordinaire who deigns to treat the citizenry of the municipality with the delights of his fabulously entertaining franchise. And lucky they are! Aren't they?

So is the "Cliff's Notes Version" a fact that Temple will still be playing at the LINC 10 years from now with their option to re-up the contract after the first 5 years is completed? If so I'm happy with that. It's a lot easier to get to the South Philly Sports Complex off of 95 than it is to get to the Temple Campus with limited parking and tailgating opportunities. 04-jawdrop 02-13-banana 02-13-banana 04-rock COGS COGS 04-cheers

Right. Temple and AAC FB fans have plenty of reason to be happy with the outcome, especially if they do have the option to re-up after 5 years.

AAC teams and fans that visit Philadelphia for games are much better off at the Lincoln Financial Field. NFL amenities, excellent tailgating, good transportation access & parking, comfortable seating with good sightlines, dining, the whole nine yards.

Why Jeff Lurie has acted like such a dufus every time Temple has needed to renew their rental agreements is a mystery. He should have realized, long ago, that it should simply be renewed with a cost of living adjustment each time and no controversy.

I don't pretend to know enough about the situation for my next words to mean a whole lot, but I think in his mind he is doing Temple a favor with this price. Temple has no negotiating power right now. If he wanted 15 mil per year, they would have to do it.
02-17-2020 01:59 PM
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Philly Brian Offline
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Post: #169
RE: Temple has no official Football home for 2020...yet
Actually the current stadium situation is indeed Temple's fault along with the city of Philadelphia.
I have been following Temple football since the 70s and I used to work for Temple as well as being a student.

I spent many an evening talking sports with former coaches and AD's off the record.
Look back to the 1970s when Temple owned it's own stadium about 40 min north of the main campus. Temple had a thriving football program with good interest.
The Eagles and Phillies decided to build Veterans Stadium and Temple jumped on board (mistake). Temple was the third tenant but the money charged was a deal to good to pass up. Rent was free and the stadium got the parking and concessions.

Now it's the 90s. Temple just opened the new bball arena. There is talk and even drawings by a firm of a potential football stadium at the astroturf field. This is the right move but the Temple admin states that lobbying for the bball stadium was too difficult to go thru again.

2000s ... The Eagles open a new stadium and it's assumed that Temple will be a tenant. The Eagles throw some obstacles at Temple by demanding a 30 year lease. Temple insist on a shorter lease in case football no longer is viable down the road for Temple. The sting of being dropped from the Big East is still fresh on the Temple admin's mind. Temple signs on for $1 mil per year. 10% of concessions and no parking revenue. Game day cost are only $180k per year.

2010s ... Temple realizes that unless they can book ND or PSU every week, the team can only draw 1/3 to 1/2 full stadium. Game day cost have increased to $2 milion. The numbers are crunched and the best Temple can ever hope to do at the Linc is maybe break even. The game day atmosphere is lacking compared to other colleges. Students hate the 40 min trip to the stadium.

Seems like Temple football has tried everything except playing games on campus. What happens if the team has a series of bad seasons? Attendance will plunge.
A campus stadium seems like it would provide a better atmosphere.
Numbers suggest that for a change Temple would see a profit from the games.

Temple makes plans but does not include the local political decision makers. Truth be told Temple has no friends in city hall. If Drexel U or UPenn wanted a stadium in the city, they would have it by now.

The political climate could be different for Temple in 5 years but it could take up to 20 or 30 years for city hall to view Temple differently.

The Eagles actually don't need the revenue that Temple brings them. We are more of a pain than the money is worth for them. They actually wish that we would wise up and leave.
My guess of what will happen down the road? In 10 years we will still be playing in a mostly empty Linc and the same old crooked or worse politicians will be sitting in city hall complaining that Temple doesn't do enough for the poor.
02-17-2020 02:36 PM
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Philly Brian Offline
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Post: #170
RE: Temple has no official Football home for 2020...yet
I should add that the only situation that I think that Linc would make sense as Temple's permanent home with be if we were to move
to a bigger conference. That would be the ACC or Big Ten. What are the odds of that happening?
02-17-2020 02:38 PM
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jedclampett Offline
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Post: #171
RE: Temple has no official Football home for 2020...yet
Given that this is an AAC message board, it's probably important for most readers to know that the quality of the game day experience in Philadelphia is outstanding at Temple's current home field. In addition, the ticket prices and seating locations are incredibly good.

It's now official that Temple FB's home field is going to be Lincoln Financial Field for the next five years, with the option to renew. The Owls have played there for nearly two decades, and may well end up playing there for the next two decades.
(This post was last modified: 02-17-2020 05:31 PM by jedclampett.)
02-17-2020 05:30 PM
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vick mike Offline
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RE: Temple has no official Football home for 2020...yet
(02-17-2020 05:30 PM)jedclampett Wrote:  Given that this is an AAC message board, it's probably important for most readers to know that the quality of the game day experience in Philadelphia is outstanding at Temple's current home field. In addition, the ticket prices and seating locations are incredibly good.

It's now official that Temple FB's home field is going to be Lincoln Financial Field for the next five years, with the option to renew. The Owls have played there for nearly two decades, and may well end up playing there for the next two decades.

Jed, how many games have you gone to at the Linc?
02-17-2020 06:22 PM
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schmolik Offline
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Post: #173
RE: Temple has no official Football home for 2020...yet
(02-17-2020 02:38 PM)Philly Brian Wrote:  I should add that the only situation that I think that Linc would make sense as Temple's permanent home with be if we were to move
to a bigger conference. That would be the ACC or Big Ten. What are the odds of that happening?

I'd love it being from Philly. I highly doubt either conference will have Temple. The Big Ten already has Penn State. The ACC could use a presence in Philly/Eastern PA and has no members along I-95 between Boston and DC and Temple's football is decent and fairly comparable to many ACC members located outside of South Carolina but I don't see the ACC expanding.

The Big 12 would probably be the conference that would want gain the most from Temple (extra member, northeast, traveling partner to West Virginia) and even that's a stretch. I'd say it would be a geographic nightmare for Temple but so's the AAC.
02-17-2020 06:33 PM
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jedclampett Offline
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Post: #174
RE: Temple has no official Football home for 2020...yet
(02-17-2020 06:22 PM)vick mike Wrote:  
(02-17-2020 05:30 PM)jedclampett Wrote:  Given that this is an AAC message board, it's probably important for most readers to know that the quality of the game day experience in Philadelphia is outstanding at Temple's current home field. In addition, the ticket prices and seating locations are incredibly good.

It's now official that Temple FB's home field is going to be Lincoln Financial Field for the next five years, with the option to renew. The Owls have played there for nearly two decades, and may well end up playing there for the next two decades.

Jed, how many games have you gone to at the Linc?

How about you? Would you encourage or discourage fans of other AAC teams from coming up to Philly to see a game there?
02-17-2020 07:04 PM
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sfink16 Offline
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Post: #175
RE: Temple has no official Football home for 2020...yet
(02-17-2020 05:30 PM)jedclampett Wrote:  Given that this is an AAC message board, it's probably important for most readers to know that the quality of the game day experience in Philadelphia is outstanding at Temple's current home field. In addition, the ticket prices and seating locations are incredibly good.

It's now official that Temple FB's home field is going to be Lincoln Financial Field for the next five years, with the option to renew. The Owls have played there for nearly two decades, and may well end up playing there for the next two decades.

If we're talking two more decades, and you mentioned Jeff Lurie in your previous post, Lurie would be 88 years old at the end of two decades. There is no guarantee he would still run the team for the full two decades and/or beyond. Just saying.
02-17-2020 08:24 PM
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vick mike Offline
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Post: #176
RE: Temple has no official Football home for 2020...yet
(02-17-2020 07:04 PM)jedclampett Wrote:  
(02-17-2020 06:22 PM)vick mike Wrote:  
(02-17-2020 05:30 PM)jedclampett Wrote:  Given that this is an AAC message board, it's probably important for most readers to know that the quality of the game day experience in Philadelphia is outstanding at Temple's current home field. In addition, the ticket prices and seating locations are incredibly good.

It's now official that Temple FB's home field is going to be Lincoln Financial Field for the next five years, with the option to renew. The Owls have played there for nearly two decades, and may well end up playing there for the next two decades.

Jed, how many games have you gone to at the Linc?

How about you? Would you encourage or discourage fans of other AAC teams from coming up to Philly to see a game there?

You didn’t answer my question.
02-18-2020 07:34 PM
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Fishpro10987 Offline
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Post: #177
RE: Temple has no official Football home for 2020...yet
(02-18-2020 07:34 PM)vick mike Wrote:  
(02-17-2020 07:04 PM)jedclampett Wrote:  
(02-17-2020 06:22 PM)vick mike Wrote:  
(02-17-2020 05:30 PM)jedclampett Wrote:  Given that this is an AAC message board, it's probably important for most readers to know that the quality of the game day experience in Philadelphia is outstanding at Temple's current home field. In addition, the ticket prices and seating locations are incredibly good.

It's now official that Temple FB's home field is going to be Lincoln Financial Field for the next five years, with the option to renew. The Owls have played there for nearly two decades, and may well end up playing there for the next two decades.

Jed, how many games have you gone to at the Linc?

How about you? Would you encourage or discourage fans of other AAC teams from coming up to Philly to see a game there?

You didn’t answer my question.

His deflection should strengthen your deduction.
02-18-2020 10:28 PM
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BearcatJerry Offline
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Post: #178
RE: Temple has no official Football home for 2020...yet
Well, The University of Cincinnati just made the Temple situation look downright healthy...

One of our home football games got moved to a weekday night because FC-Cincinnati has a soccer game on a Saturday... Which means UC is a tenant...in their OWN stadium.

I take back all the grief I ever gave Temple and USF about being renters. At least you have a straight-up deal. UC football has become second-class citizens...IN THEIR OWN HOUSE. What good is having an OOC if you're not the primary tenant?
02-18-2020 11:52 PM
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vick mike Offline
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Post: #179
RE: Temple has no official Football home for 2020...yet
(02-18-2020 11:52 PM)BearcatJerry Wrote:  Well, The University of Cincinnati just made the Temple situation look downright healthy...

One of our home football games got moved to a weekday night because FC-Cincinnati has a soccer game on a Saturday... Which means UC is a tenant...in their OWN stadium.

I take back all the grief I ever gave Temple and USF about being renters. At least you have a straight-up deal. UC football has become second-class citizens...IN THEIR OWN HOUSE. What good is having an OOC if you're not the primary tenant?

We’re still renters and you’re still landlords.
02-19-2020 08:53 AM
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ThatDude Offline
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Post: #180
RE: Temple has no official Football home for 2020...yet
(02-18-2020 11:52 PM)BearcatJerry Wrote:  Well, The University of Cincinnati just made the Temple situation look downright healthy...

One of our home football games got moved to a weekday night because FC-Cincinnati has a soccer game on a Saturday... Which means UC is a tenant...in their OWN stadium.

I take back all the grief I ever gave Temple and USF about being renters. At least you have a straight-up deal. UC football has become second-class citizens...IN THEIR OWN HOUSE. What good is having an OOC if you're not the primary tenant?

lol they play in Salt Lake on the 12th. Home team is top team in soccer.
02-19-2020 08:56 AM
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