Eagles New field

[Montanan]

Haters..... :roll:

Few if any of us hate Eastern. In fact, it's probably the program in the BSC we respect the most.


But yes. We HATE that red field.

personally, my hate is limited to those move up/stay put + related threads. as for the red field i'm withholding judgment till i have a chance to see it for myself --> 09/18/2010!

 

[Kadeezy]

Ick... that place is the BSC equivalent of our basketball venue... :roll:

 

[fencer24]

Got a link?

And yes, I do look at car wrecks when I drive by.

 

['68griz]

EWU folks, I kinda like the idea of the red field, just like I mostly like BSU's blue field. Doing something unique/out-of-the-ordinary will always bring around the haters, and that's actually their problem, not yours. Go forth, EWU.

 

[montanasports]

Now that I see they have a live feed webcam set up to watch the progress of the field. I think it will be more challenging to bury a Griz memento in the dirt. I wonder if they have lights set up at night so the EWU fans can watch the work all night long

I was in the Cheney area the other day for work and swung by to see what the field looked liked. I was hoping to see "red" Just a pile of dirt right now and locked up pretty tight as it is a construction zone. I really do have a lot of respect for the EWU program and fans but man that is a lame stadium and depressing campus. IMO red is gonna look pretty tacky.

Sorry guys would have buried something Griz but never thought about that one! :lol:

 

[EWURanger29]

I don't think any EWU folks are under the illusion that the stadium isn't a joke. In fact, it's pretty much the main consistent topic on our message board. People are pretty much fed up with the state of the football facilities, even though in some areas such as locker room/weight room we are easily in the top 3 in the conference.....it's the outside that everyone sees. Good news is that it looks like they are taking steps in the right direction with the new field turf (albeit red)........also looks like we will have new score/replay boards up for this coming season as well. So there are attempts being made to improve Woodward. Problem is, as always, finding the money in this economy. Funny how several years ago we could find the money to build a multi-million dollar rec center/hockey rink, but not money to improve the football facilities. Go figure.

That said, I think the fact that we have poor facilities speaks volumes about the program's ability to coach, recruit and develop players, and ultimately have winning teams. There are very few FCS programs that have been as successful as EWU that have had to compete with two in-state Pac-10 schools for fans and recruits, while also competing with other FCS programs like Montana for those same recruits.

Personally, I think we do alright with what we have. We all know our stadium sucks - you are preaching to the converted. But the only thing we can do is continue to press the issue and raise donations for further improvements, which are happening slowly but surely.

As far as the red turf goes, I really like the idea......but I'm reserving judgment until the final product is unveiled.

Finally, for all of you that are so quick to point out the short-comings of our football stadium - what do you think your stadium would be like without the generous donations of Mr Washington? Certainly nothing like what they are now......Dornblaser was definitely nothing special. Be critical of our efforts if you must, but at least we are trying. I swear, it really seems like some of you have been following Montana/Big Sky football for about a day and only know Griz football as it exists in the here and now. Rome wasn't built in a day, yet some of you act like you've always had this great stadium and crowds. Get a grip and try to show some humility and remember where you came from, folks.

 

[griz8791]

. . . I swear, it really seems like some of you have been following Montana/Big Sky football for about a day and only know Griz football as it exists in the here and now. Rome wasn't built in a day, yet some of you act like you've always had this great stadium and crowds. Get a grip and try to show some humility and remember where you came from, folks.

Ranger29 hits the nail on the head.

 

[NativeGriz]

R29,
Actually I have always been surprised you have not done better in your recruiting. Washington has 10Xs more people than Montana and you are basically only competing with Huskies/Cougars instate. Also it is easier for a non-qualifier to walk on. You have a huge geographic location over the Montana schools. The only reason we compete well in recruiting is due to the atmosphere we have created at Montana. If you can do that, we will be in trouble.

 

[EverettGriz]

Good post, Ranger. I agree. I'm always impressed with the product Eastern puts on the field. Without question competitively, it would be the program in the conference best-suited to move up following Montana (with apologies to Weber). Eastern mines the hell out of western Washington for recruits and they get a ton of good talent that the "big boys" miss (or ignore). As NG indicates, there are certainly some admissions qualification advantages at Eastern, but nonetheless, there is always serious talent there.

And yes, most of us Griz fans are humble enough to remember our past.

 

[Montanan]

...And yes, most of us Griz fans are humble enough to remember our past.

i remember back when the two most common commonly used football stmts were:
1. Go Griz!
2. good game, but the Griz will get them next year!

enjoyed the games from way back when, but the last 15 yrs have been something special. if experience teaches us anything, we should know not to take anything for granted.

 

[Hammer]

i remember back when the two most common commonly used football stmts were:
1. Go Griz!
2. good game, but the Griz will get them next year!

enjoyed the games from way back when, but the last 15 yrs have been something special. if experience teaches us anything, we should know not to take anything for granted.

The interesting thing is there are a select few who don't think what we have now is special and want to return to the days of the "Griz will get em next year". They are also the first to likely bail off the bandwagon after 3 or 4 seasons of .500 football.

 

[FootallFAN]

It will be interesting to see what it's like to view a game on Red turf. I personally can't stand watching Boise on their Blue turf. Maybe I'm old fashioned but it seems to me that even synthetic grass should be green.

 

[EWURanger29]

R29,
Actually I have always been surprised you have not done better in your recruiting. Washington has 10Xs more people than Montana and you are basically only competing with Huskies/Cougars instate. Also it is easier for a non-qualifier to walk on. You have a huge geographic location over the Montana schools. The only reason we compete well in recruiting is due to the atmosphere we have created at Montana. If you can do that, we will be in trouble.

Can't really argue with your post. And you are right, we do get a lot of kids that are either overlooked by the Pac-10 schools, or are non-qualifiers out of high school which turn into Prop 48's. But it's still my opinion that strong recruiting, especially within the state of Washington and California (Meyer, Nichols) is one of the reasons we have been competitive as we have been. Further improvements to facilities will only help in that regard.

And while I will concede that we are in good position to recruit geographically, especially those "stay close to home kids", IMO any real advantage we may have over the Griz in that department is off-set by the atmosphere at Montana you speak of in the above post - of which facilities are a very large part of. But like I said, while we are trying to (somewhat) close the huge gap that exists in that area, it won't happen overnight. The reality is that we won't have 25+ thousand fans out to games like Montana does anytime in the foreseeable future. We also may never what you have at WA-Griz. But in my opinion, even if we only make marginal gains in attendance (even if it's a couple thousand more folks a game) that will go a long ways to what we are trying to achieve, which is a better game day atmosphere. I would venture to say that getting Woodward to a respectable 12-15k capacity, new turf, new replay boards, better parking, and some improvements in attendance would make most EWU folks pretty darn happy. We're not too terribly far off, just gotta make sure the ball continues to roll in the right. The good news I think we have an administration and AD that "gets it", and people that are willing to donate.

I even heard Bill Gates was breaking out his check-book. Sorry, small joke. :thumb:

 

[EWURanger29]

And yes, most of us Griz fans are humble enough to remember our past.

I know, and I appreciate that fact. that's why I highlighted the "some" bit. :thumb:

 

[PlayerRep]

i remember back when the two most common commonly used football stmts were:
1. Go Griz!
2. good game, but the Griz will get them next year!

enjoyed the games from way back when, but the last 15 yrs have been something special. if experience teaches us anything, we should know not to take anything for granted.

The interesting thing is there are a select few who don't think what we have now is special and want to return to the days of the "Griz will get em next year". They are also the first to likely bail off the bandwagon after 3 or 4 seasons of .500 football.

Hammer, you are so right on this issue, except I think alot of them would bail sooner, and certainly after two years.

 

[PlayerRep]

R29,
Actually I have always been surprised you have not done better in your recruiting. Washington has 10Xs more people than Montana and you are basically only competing with Huskies/Cougars instate. Also it is easier for a non-qualifier to walk on. You have a huge geographic location over the Montana schools. The only reason we compete well in recruiting is due to the atmosphere we have created at Montana. If you can do that, we will be in trouble.

Can't really argue with your post. And you are right, we do get a lot of kids that are either overlooked by the Pac-10 schools, or are non-qualifiers out of high school which turn into Prop 48's. But it's still my opinion that strong recruiting, especially within the state of Washington and California (Meyer, Nichols) is one of the reasons we have been competitive as we have been. Further improvements to facilities will only help in that regard.

And while I will concede that we are in good position to recruit geographically, especially those "stay close to home kids", IMO any real advantage we may have over the Griz in that department is off-set by the atmosphere at Montana you speak of in the above post - of which facilities are a very large part of. But like I said, while we are trying to (somewhat) close the huge gap that exists in that area, it won't happen overnight. The reality is that we won't have 25+ thousand fans out to games like Montana does anytime in the foreseeable future. We also may never what you have at WA-Griz. But in my opinion, even if we only make marginal gains in attendance (even if it's a couple thousand more folks a game) that will go a long ways to what we are trying to achieve, which is a better game day atmosphere. I would venture to say that getting Woodward to a respectable 12-15k capacity, new turf, new replay boards, better parking, and some improvements in attendance would make most EWU folks pretty darn happy. We're not too terribly far off, just gotta make sure the ball continues to roll in the right. The good news I think we have an administration and AD that "gets it"

Given the lack of winning tradition, facility (stadium), attendance and game-day atmosphere, EWU had done very well. Personally, I think your level of talent is high every year, and that is one of the reason that you have competed so well with the Griz. But as said by others, your lower cost, Washington population, and ability to take some lower qualifier types (and nurture them), has added to your high level of talent.

I agree with your comments about making incremental improvements, and adding a few thousand in attendance each year.

 

[kemajic]

that is one of the reason that you have competed so well with the Griz.

EWU has won 3 of the last 17 against the Griz. What would not competed so well be? He's at it again.

 

[Grizmayor]

that is one of the reason that you have competed so well with the Griz.

EWU has won 3 of the last 17 against the Griz. What would not competed so well be? He's at it again.

And from what I remember, it could have easily been 14 out of 17. EWU is always the team I fear the most on our BSC schedule. They generally have equal talent in the skill positions (IF NOT BETTER) than the Griz, and have handed us a few losses at WaGriz. I honestly wouldnt be surprised if they give us a battle to the wire this season as well.

 

[putter]

And from what I remember, it could have easily been 14 out of 17. EWU is always the team I fear the most on our BSC schedule. They generally have equal talent in the skill positions (IF NOT BETTER) than the Griz, and have handed us a few losses at WaGriz. I honestly wouldnt be surprised if they give us a battle to the wire this season as well.[/quote]

:clap: :clap: :thumb:

 

[Screamin_Eagle174]

I don't think any EWU folks are under the illusion that the stadium isn't a joke. In fact, it's pretty much the main consistent topic on our message board. People are pretty much fed up with the state of the football facilities, even though in some areas such as locker room/weight room we are easily in the top 3 in the conference.....it's the outside that everyone sees. Good news is that it looks like they are taking steps in the right direction with the new field turf (albeit red)........also looks like we will have new score/replay boards up for this coming season as well. So there are attempts being made to improve Woodward. Problem is, as always, finding the money in this economy. Funny how several years ago we could find the money to build a multi-million dollar rec center/hockey rink, but not money to improve the football facilities. Go figure.

That said, I think the fact that we have poor facilities speaks volumes about the program's ability to coach, recruit and develop players, and ultimately have winning teams. There are very few FCS programs that have been as successful as EWU that have had to compete with two in-state Pac-10 schools for fans and recruits, while also competing with other FCS programs like Montana for those same recruits.

Personally, I think we do alright with what we have. We all know our stadium sucks - you are preaching to the converted. But the only thing we can do is continue to press the issue and raise donations for further improvements, which are happening slowly but surely.

As far as the red turf goes, I really like the idea......but I'm reserving judgment until the final product is unveiled.

Finally, for all of you that are so quick to point out the short-comings of our football stadium - what do you think your stadium would be like without the generous donations of Mr Washington? Certainly nothing like what they are now......Dornblaser was definitely nothing special. Be critical of our efforts if you must, but at least we are trying. I swear, it really seems like some of you have been following Montana/Big Sky football for about a day and only know Griz football as it exists in the here and now. Rome wasn't built in a day, yet some of you act like you've always had this great stadium and crowds. Get a grip and try to show some humility and remember where you came from, folks.

+20

Great post Ranger. Good to see some good discussion in this thread, and very little smack.

Looks like they should be rolling out the red carpet in a week as the dirt/sand work is nearing completion. I'd venture to guess Wednesday or Thursday. Can't wait to see it!