I went to the Oklahoma State Baylor football game yesterday. Wow, was I impressed with the facilities and the fans!
The fans lined the street to the stadium before the game to cheer the players as they made their way to the stadium 2 1/2 hours before the game. Everyone was fired up by game time.
Boone Pickens stadium rivals any nfl stadium! World class audio system booming out music before the game. The stadium has a sky cam to follow every play. Four huge monitors at each side of the stadium to show every play. Before the game, they played a clip from the movie Tombstone showing Kurt Russell making a speech and holding a shotgun.
Just to the north of the stadium, OSU has a brand new training facility. Looks really nice!
I compare this to Memorial stadium which is a 1920's stadium stuck in the 70's. I think the KU admin took the same attitude to football that they did in basketball for years. When it came to Allen Field House, we relied on the prestige and wonderment of it, and didn't Put a lot of money into the facilities or student amenities. As a result, it became harder and harder for Bill Self to recruit. Today's recruits don't care about history, they want the ritz and flash that they see in the nfl, nba, etc. Bill Self got the needed upgrades, and he competes for the top kids.
To a large part, KU has taken the same approach with Memorial. The difference is that KU has had flashes of football history, but I bet most of the recruits don't know that KU was in the Orange Bowl just a few years ago.
If I was a recruit, it would be hard to turn down the glitz of OSU to play at KU.
I see now more than ever why KU needs to spend major money in order to stand a chance at recruiting better players. I really like Coach Beaty, but I don't see how even a top recruiter can sell Memorial stadium in its current condition.
The fans lined the street to the stadium before the game to cheer the players as they made their way to the stadium 2 1/2 hours before the game. Everyone was fired up by game time.
Boone Pickens stadium rivals any nfl stadium! World class audio system booming out music before the game. The stadium has a sky cam to follow every play. Four huge monitors at each side of the stadium to show every play. Before the game, they played a clip from the movie Tombstone showing Kurt Russell making a speech and holding a shotgun.
Just to the north of the stadium, OSU has a brand new training facility. Looks really nice!
I compare this to Memorial stadium which is a 1920's stadium stuck in the 70's. I think the KU admin took the same attitude to football that they did in basketball for years. When it came to Allen Field House, we relied on the prestige and wonderment of it, and didn't Put a lot of money into the facilities or student amenities. As a result, it became harder and harder for Bill Self to recruit. Today's recruits don't care about history, they want the ritz and flash that they see in the nfl, nba, etc. Bill Self got the needed upgrades, and he competes for the top kids.
To a large part, KU has taken the same approach with Memorial. The difference is that KU has had flashes of football history, but I bet most of the recruits don't know that KU was in the Orange Bowl just a few years ago.
If I was a recruit, it would be hard to turn down the glitz of OSU to play at KU.
I see now more than ever why KU needs to spend major money in order to stand a chance at recruiting better players. I really like Coach Beaty, but I don't see how even a top recruiter can sell Memorial stadium in its current condition.
