(05-15-2022 02:07 PM)Ourland Wrote:  

(05-15-2022 10:57 AM)Tomball Owl Wrote:  

(05-15-2022 10:46 AM)Ourland Wrote:  They should tarp that end zone with a thin layer of artificial grass. It would look so much better than blue.

I guess the option of putting a product on the field worth watching that draws crowds to fill those seats is off the table?

Until that time arrives, make it look like grass. We'll always have both upper decks anyway, so there should be plenty of seating no matter how great our product becomes in the future. So, 'yes'?

We could go undefeated and still probably wouldn't draw a crowd to fill the endzone stadium. Houston people grow up watching the University of Houston because their name literally states that they are Houston's university. Houston people who aren't affiliated with any university would prefer to watch a bad UH than a good Rice because of Houston pride alone.

That being said we could definitely draw a much larger crowd with a good team obviously, but filling in thay endzone as well is a longshot dream that would take a huge culture change in all of Houston.

Also all the talk about putting an owl over the tunnel to look over the opposing team is interesting but it wouldn't change the fact that we're currently giving the visitor team the better entrance. Anyone who hasn't gone to a Rice game would expect the home team to come out of the big tunnel and the visitor team to come from the small entrance on the other side. We can't do anything about our entrance but heck I think we should consider a smaller tunnel or something for the visitor team to come out.

Yeah I see where you're coming from. I wish there was a great spot to put that large Owl as our team comes out, but there just isn't. The visitor's tunnel is such a perfect spot, with the R room in the background. I don't know. Something like that has to be funded anyway. Maybe Parliament should do it? We'll put our money where our mouth is for once. No one wants a cannon, so how about a giant Owl?

I like to think that if Rice were having winning seasons in most years, we could reasonably attract 17k real fans a game. That may not sound like much, but it dwarfs the 800 that attend now, and it helps make Rice Stadium a more exciting environment to watch a game. Of course, no one ever supports losers, no matter what level of competition we're talking about.

(05-15-2022 04:21 PM)Ourland Wrote:  Yeah I see where you're coming from. I wish there was a great spot to put that large Owl as our team comes out, but there just isn't. The visitor's tunnel is such a perfect spot, with the R room in the background. I don't know. Something like that has to be funded anyway. Maybe Parliament should do it? We'll put our money where our mouth is for once. No one wants a cannon, so how about a giant Owl?

How about a large flying-owl drone that would circle the field before the game and after each score? Make it an OEDK (Oshman Engineering Design Kitchen) student-designed project.

I'd love to see it have long wings that flap as it flies. (They would also visually distract viewers from the drone's rotors.)

(05-16-2022 04:19 PM)Almadenmike Wrote:  

(05-15-2022 04:21 PM)Ourland Wrote:  Yeah I see where you're coming from. I wish there was a great spot to put that large Owl as our team comes out, but there just isn't. The visitor's tunnel is such a perfect spot, with the R room in the background. I don't know. Something like that has to be funded anyway. Maybe Parliament should do it? We'll put our money where our mouth is for once. No one wants a cannon, so how about a giant Owl?

How about a large flying-owl drone that would circle the field before the game and after each score? Make it an OEDK (Oshman Engineering Design Kitchen) student-designed project.

I'd love to see it have long wings that flap as it flies. (They would also visually distract viewers from the drone's rotors.)

Sure. Why not? Or perhaps we hire a professional hawker $250 a game to have his owl trained to fly around the stadium once or twice after each score, a lot like the war eagle at Auburn. This stuff takes money.

Do you guys want to meet at a pub in Rice Village sometime? Maybe we should take Parliament to the next level? Let's vote on officers. There are ideas here that Rice admin needs to know about. There are objectives concerning the GameDay experience that need to be addressed. The few of us here are the biggest fans. Let's do something for Rice. Let's quit talking, and let's start acting. We need to 'organize,' and then invite someone in the athletics department to our meetings. Maybe we meet two or three times a year? Feedback.

None of this stuff pays for itself. None of these ideas are presented in an effective fashion without organization. Maybe it's time that we become a force in Rice Athletics. Let's print out some GameDay shirts. Let's build our membership. All fans are welcome.

(05-16-2022 09:49 PM)Ourland Wrote:  Do you guys want to meet at a pub in Rice Village sometime? Maybe we should take Parliament to the next level? Let's vote on officers. There are ideas here that Rice admin needs to know about. There are objectives concerning the GameDay experience that need to be addressed. The few of us here are the biggest fans. Let's do something for Rice. Let's quit talking, and let's start acting. We need to 'organize,' and then invite someone in the athletics department to our meetings. Maybe we meet two or three times a year? Feedback.

We did this a few times back when the Parliament was new. We even had shirts made with our screen names and a number of our choice. I still have mine, with the number 00.

But it faded away.

Let's do it for real this time. Let's get organized. Nothing too demanding. Let's meet twice a year and try to accomplish a couple initiatives. It's the athletics department's worst nightmare. We are independent. No one at Rice 'controls' us. They can listen to us, and sincerely accept our input and donation, or they can all go to hell.

(05-17-2022 01:15 AM)Ourland Wrote:  Let's do it for real this time. Let's get organized. Nothing too demanding. Let's meet twice a year and try to accomplish a couple initiatives. It's the athletics department's worst nightmare. We are independent. No one at Rice 'controls' us. They can listen to us, and sincerely accept our input and donation, or they can all go to hell.

It was real last time.

I applaud the effort to do something. As someone who has railed against the abject stupidity of the Rice athletics department for 50+ years, I'm afraid I'm just too worn out to try to lead a charge this time. But I will be happy to support in any way I can.

(05-17-2022 09:57 AM)Owl 69/70/75 Wrote:  I applaud the effort to do something. As someone who has railed against the abject stupidity of the Rice athletics department for 50+ years, I'm afraid I'm just too worn out to try to lead a charge this time. But I will be happy to support in any way I can.

Back then I would come down to Houston for the parliament get togethers. Too old/tired now. But if you guys do get something going, I will try to help in some way.

17 May…

Ready for decking on the Flight Decks



Bricks to grade



Lovely plumage, the Norwegian Blue…

(05-17-2022 09:15 AM)OptimisticOwl Wrote:  

(05-17-2022 01:15 AM)Ourland Wrote:  Let's do it for real this time. Let's get organized. Nothing too demanding. Let's meet twice a year and try to accomplish a couple initiatives. It's the athletics department's worst nightmare. We are independent. No one at Rice 'controls' us. They can listen to us, and sincerely accept our input and donation, or they can all go to hell.

It was real last time.

and ignored

The blue looks nice.

I hope they use that same blue accent around the rest of the stadium. It stands out nicely

Wow that blue looks great. The brick and the blue are really nice cosmetic upgrades. I hope they can do more cosmetic upgrades like that throughout the stadium instead of just the bottom

Moving along...



Corner detail...

Maybe it's just me, but that ramp brick looks odd. I know it would be more work but shouldn't the courses be horizontal not sloped?

(05-20-2022 10:52 AM)loki_the_bubba Wrote:  Maybe it's just me, but that ramp brick looks odd. I know it would be more work but shouldn't the courses be horizontal not sloped?

I wondered the same, so its not just you. But given the choices, I don't know which is better.