McGuirk Upgrade

[McKinney]

McG made the list on FivePoint's Worst College Football Stadiums (Pt 2) video.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hzw9PgZr0C8

From the air, this stadium doesn’t look that terrible, but then you realize that this is one of the worst FBS stadiums in existence. UMass turned down the option of being in the MAC in 2015 then got kicked out of Foxboro where they had been playing their home games. Then ended up in this cold dilapidated stadium that looks like it has as much atmosphere as Mars. Since declining to be in the MAC, the Minutemen have been an Independent FBS team and it’s not surprising why there are no conferences willing to take them. *clip of Mike Wegzyn throwing a pick-six against UConn in 2012*

[Berkman]

McG made the list on FivePoint's Worst College Football Stadiums (Pt 2) video.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hzw9PgZr0C8

From the air, this stadium doesn’t look that terrible, but then you realize that this is one of the worst FBS stadiums in existence. UMass turned down the option of being in the MAC in 2015 then got kicked out of Foxboro where they had been playing their home games. Then ended up in this cold dilapidated stadium that looks like it has as much atmosphere as Mars. Since declining to be in the MAC, the Minutemen have been an Independent FBS team and it’s not surprising why there are no conferences willing to take them. *clip of Mike Wegzyn throwing a pick-six against UConn in 2012*

There are a few errors in the statement above. We left the MAC because if we stayed in it we would have to move ALL sports into the MAC and that would hurt the BB program big time because the MAC usually only gets one team into the playoffs. Not good for U MAss.

We did not get kicked out of Foxboro. We need to have as many games on campus as possible so students don't have to travel for an hour to go to the games. An occasional game like the BYU game this year is OK to do.

The new coach and some of his assistants are recruiting some big defensive JC players and they are having a bunch on campus this weekend. With the reference to the stadium being cold what do you expect for an open stadium in the northeast. It is usually cold there in the late fall.

Once we start winning under coach Bell we will get into the AAC conference and once we do that the athletic department can hopefully get money to implement one of the three plans to expand the stadium and install hand rails. From what I have heard years ago that in order to install hand rails they have to take off 6 " from each row of seats to make the stairs wide enough for the hand rails.

[Sheck]

Actually feel a little bit better about McGuirk after watching that video. Definitely more salvageable than a lot of the other stadiums in the video. Some of the FCS stadiums on there are LOL bad.

[minutefanjsf]

Actually feel a little bit better about McGuirk after watching that video. Definitely more salvageable than a lot of the other stadiums in the video. Some of the FCS stadiums on there are LOL bad.

McGuirk is literally a foundation or skeleton, however you want to look at it. The area around the stands are a blank slate and there is a lot of room to build ancillary build gins and concourses.

[Berkman]

Link to an article on the Athletic Site on upgrade:

https://umassathletics.com/news/2018/12 ... -gift.aspx

[photoman]

Actually feel a little bit better about McGuirk after watching that video. Definitely more salvageable than a lot of the other stadiums in the video. Some of the FCS stadiums on there are LOL bad.

McGuirk is literally a foundation or skeleton, however you want to look at it. The area around the stands are a blank slate and there is a lot of room to build ancillary build gins and concourses.

It may be a "foundation" but is it a solid foundation?

[McKinney]

It may be a "foundation" but is it a solid foundation?

I'd think so. Why put money into it now if we're gonna need to blow it up in less than a decade?

And if it's not, then McGuirk was really poorly designed and/or UMass neglected it. Among FBS schools it's not even that old of a stadium. The overwhelming majority of FBS stadiums (~90 stadiums) were built prior to or during the era that McGuirk was built.

[photoman]

@McKinney- I would think that UMass poorly designing that stadium and cheaply building it (not to mention the ravages of time) could be completely within the realm of possibility. To even call it a "stadium" is quite a stretch, for what's really nothing more than two slabs of concrete with bench seats. I believe it was someone on this board who was a structural engineer and mentioned the limited "New England" life of concrete. Freeze/thaw cycles over the years etc.

[InnervisionsUMASS]

^

Or you can call it a stadium.


sta·di·um
noun
noun: stadium; plural noun: stadia; plural noun: stadiums
1.
a sports arena with tiers of seats for spectators.
synonyms: arena, field, ground; More
(in ancient Rome or Greece) a track for a foot race or chariot race.


Sounds like a stadium to me!

[photoman]

@Innervisions- Ok I see the connection....ancient Rome, ancient Greece and ancient Hadley!

[InnervisionsUMASS]

Just pointing out that it is, in fact, a stadium. It may be a shitty stadium, but it is one none the less.

[MJatUM]

@Innervisions- Ok I see the connection....ancient Rome, ancient Greece and ancient Hadley!

Hey at least ancient Rome had aqueducts... A welcome upgrade in 2019 !!?!?

[capezona]

17th worst according to moneywise.

https://moneywise.com/a/ch-b/worst-stad ... l+Stadiums

"McGuirk Alumni Stadium is relatively puny, holding only 17,000 fans. And yet the place is often a little empty, as UMass struggles on and off the field.
It's an OK place to watch a game, but it can be downright miserable in any weather, particularly on cold autumn nights in central Massachusetts.
The more than 50-year-old stadium received a decent renovation in 2014 but is still showing its age. One Google user's review is just one word: 'Yuck.'"

[Old-School]

^^^haha Central Mass

[InnervisionsUMASS]

T-Mobile is handing out cash for stadium naming rights... need to get in on that somehow!