(06-16-2022 10:11 PM)Owl 69/70/75 Wrote:  Suggestion 1.

Agreed. Or cover the corner with the same stone as the cap.

I don't care.

I kinda like the appeal of a 4-dimensional M.C. Escher inspired Stadium feature.

Is this esoteric enough to be a MOB show theme? And with only a subtle but forgivable jab at the home team admin?

Wind always at the back of Rice? Escher-inspired prints on the tarps depicting flocks of fans morphing in to owls in flight? Goal posts are 3-pronged, 1-slot widgets? (Quadruple Doink!)

https://twitter.com/riceathletics/status...c8BkGOauRQ

These look great. We’ve been told for years it wasn’t possible at HRS but really it just took a little vision and $$$.

(06-01-2022 10:34 AM)Grungy Wrote:  

(06-01-2022 09:48 AM)loki_the_bubba Wrote:  

(05-31-2022 12:14 AM)Grungy Wrote:  This is something like what I had in mind for a large owl in the tunnel, for the visiting team to face as they enter the field.
I didn't mean for it to be something we would see.

I get it now. I thought you meant on the stadium side where they come out. We should have a matching one there too.

As a wrap or paint, this is easy in this location.
Making it 3D adds complexity and wind resistance.
Inside, visible to the fans, it also is a target for place kicks, and I wonder what the impact of a football might do to a sculpture.

Are there rules for what can be displayed on the capture net for kicked balls? If there aren't, there ought to be. I can think of all sorts of things to put on the nets to distract opposing kickers.

Rice has long had an affiliation with AllState, and their logo is/was on the nets.

BTW, the owl photograph is by Jim Cumming, and is used here without permission - it is only a suggestion.

This is one we can use - my photo, from the Cayuga Nature Center in Ithaca, NY.



And this - much nicer talons - that's the idea.



Ithaca College is DIII, so we probably won't ever play them, and besides, they didn't adopt the Flying Squirrels mascot anyway...

(06-01-2022 10:34 AM)Grungy Wrote:  Are there rules for what can be displayed on the capture net for kicked balls? If there aren't, there ought to be. I can think of all sorts of things to put on the nets to distract opposing kickers.

Rice has long had an affiliation with Allstate, and their logo is/was on the nets.

UH & UAB & USM were among the first D1 school to have Allstate kicking nets when the program began in 2005.

By 2007, Rice was among the 57 participating schools.

(06-20-2022 12:11 PM)Almadenmike Wrote:  

(06-01-2022 10:34 AM)Grungy Wrote:  Are there rules for what can be displayed on the capture net for kicked balls? If there aren't, there ought to be. I can think of all sorts of things to put on the nets to distract opposing kickers.

Rice has long had an affiliation with Allstate, and their logo is/was on the nets.

UH & UAB & USM were among the first D1 school to have Allstate kicking nets when the program began in 2005.

By 2007, Rice was among the 57 participating schools.

Allstate makes a big deal about the total amount of money they donated to the "general scholarship funds" through those ads, but it's just $100 per point scored kicking. It's only a high amount because they've had so many schools doing it for so long. If every Boswell kick was into an Allstate net (and they weren't), he would have generated under $9k per year, and that was a Groza nominee kicker.

(06-16-2022 03:17 PM)Hambone10 Wrote:  Add charging stations, TVs and 'servers' to the flight decks and that's precisely what I suggested be done on this forum (and in person) a few years ago

Yeah I was hoping they'd take it to the next level. Install some ceiling fans, televisions, and charging stations for sure. I hope there's demand for the flight decks. It's a nice concept.

(06-23-2022 10:02 AM)Ourland Wrote:  

(06-16-2022 03:17 PM)Hambone10 Wrote:  Add charging stations, TVs and 'servers' to the flight decks and that's precisely what I suggested be done on this forum (and in person) a few years ago

Yeah I was hoping they'd take it to the next level. Install some ceiling fans, televisions, and charging stations for sure. I hope there's demand for the flight decks. It's a nice concept.

Can't find any mention of them while searching the season ticket web page. Anyone in here know where to check the availability and prices? Yes, there are phone numbers to call, but I'm not going to do that.

29 June 2022 update...

This looks really good.

Southeast corner, with cap mostly installed



North end zone, cap mostly installed.
Field level scoreboard and play clock awaits reinstallation.

I think they're using the blocking sleds to keep their materials off of the turf as they work.
They're also using The MOB's rolling conducting stand to move materials around the stadium.

(07-01-2022 10:45 AM)Grungy Wrote:  29 June 2022 update...

This looks really good.

Southeast corner, with cap mostly installed



North end zone, cap mostly installed.
Field level scoreboard and play clock awaits reinstallation.

They finally painted that ugly wooden box behind the goal post. It has been an eyesore. Nice.

What is its purpose anyway?

(07-03-2022 02:16 PM)Ourland Wrote:  

(07-01-2022 10:45 AM)Grungy Wrote:  29 June 2022 update...

This looks really good.

Southeast corner, with cap mostly installed



North end zone, cap mostly installed.
Field level scoreboard and play clock awaits reinstallation.

They finally painted that ugly wooden box behind the goal post. It has been an eyesore. Nice.

What is its purpose anyway?

I think it's a metaphor for to that empty box we had to fill on the Rice application ....

It’s the pump house which drains the stadium runoff into the old Harris Gully drainage system. Without those pumps, the lower bowl would become Owl Lake during even a moderate rainstorm.

(07-03-2022 02:27 PM)Uncle Benjamin Wrote:  It’s the pump house which drains the stadium runoff into the old Harris Gully drainage system. Without those pumps, the lower bowl would become Owl Lake during even a moderate rainstorm.

Exactly.
Field level is 25’ below grade and below the local water table.
There are four very large electric motors driving pumps in that pump house.
The only time those pumps aren’t running is during a power outage or maintenance on one at a time.
If you can put your ear next to the grillwork you can hear the water cascading inside.

Why is it running all of the time? Shouldn't it just be running during a rainstorm? What water is there to 'move' around the clock?

I'm definitely listening to the cascading water next time I'm on the field. Love Rice Stadium.

(07-04-2022 02:38 PM)Ourland Wrote:  Why is it running all of the time? Shouldn't it just be running during a rainstorm? What water is there to 'move' around the clock?

See Grungy’s post. Field level is below the water table in the area. Even without a rainstorm, ground water would flood the field without constant pumping.

Same reason basements are not a thing in Houston except for buildings with pumping systems.

(07-04-2022 04:29 PM)Tomball Owl Wrote:  

(07-04-2022 02:38 PM)Ourland Wrote:  Why is it running all of the time? Shouldn't it just be running during a rainstorm? What water is there to 'move' around the clock?

See Grungy’s post. Field level is below the water table in the area. Even without a rainstorm, ground water would flood the field without constant pumping.

Same reason basements are not a thing in Houston except for buildings with pumping systems.

Or, to put it more poetically:

We been bailing water out of this sinking ship ever since it was built!!

(07-04-2022 05:24 PM)owl at the moon Wrote:  

(07-04-2022 04:29 PM)Tomball Owl Wrote:  

(07-04-2022 02:38 PM)Ourland Wrote:  Why is it running all of the time? Shouldn't it just be running during a rainstorm? What water is there to 'move' around the clock?

See Grungy’s post. Field level is below the water table in the area. Even without a rainstorm, ground water would flood the field without constant pumping.

Same reason basements are not a thing in Houston except for buildings with pumping systems.

Or, to put it more poetically:

We been bailing water out of this sinking ship ever since it was built!!

Still quite competitive for the first decade of HRS.
[IMHO, TV destroyed amateur athletics, after the NCAA allowed broadcasters to show more than one game per weekend.
The money and competition for more money and more of the money then outweighed the competition between athletes.]