September 15, 2011

Washington State, why isn't this you?


I'm currently watching the LSU-Mississippi State game on ESPN and one of the camera angles showed the jumbotron on the field and it's nearly the width of the football field. Move over Jerry Jones, apparently this is how SEC football rolls.

Now if there is ever a little brother in the SEC, it is Mississippi State. While they've certainly had a good team in recent years, they're not on the level of say a Florida, LSU or Alabama. However that doesn't seem to dampen the fans enthusiasm during the game. 

And you know what? Mississippi State University is in a smaller town that Pullman, and doesn't have a Spokane-sized city to draw money and fans from (Come on it's Mississippi... you'd be lucky if there's outdoor plumbing outside the stadium). However Davis Wade Stadium is a 55,000-seat shrine to college football.

What the heck Washington State? Martin Stadium is certainly a fun place to go watch a football game but it's light years behind Davis Wade - who's jumbotron is the second largest in all of college football - and every team in the Pac-12. I mean does this look nearly as cool as David Wade?


(Granted it's empty but that's how things are looking during Cougar games lately)

I'm just aghast at the inability for the Cougs to improve seating arrangements. I don't want to be a downer here, but if you can't even fill a 35,000-seat stadium... will the Pac-12 even want you when they continue to expand.

There needs to be some serious game on-ing... and it's not the University's fault, WSU alumni are notoriously cheap (as are EWU alums, yours included). What needs to happen in the next 10 years is a major stadium renovation and improvement in seating, not the aesthetic stuff that they've been doing to the place in recent years. 

Otherwise major college football might just pass WSU by. 

2 comments:

  1. To be fair, the laughable Pac10 contract gave member schools very little money compared to the huge $ MSU is getting from the SEC TV contract. Tom Hansen kept the conference in neutral for years. Larry Scott has dragged the Pac12 into the modern era, so I would be shocked is WSU doesn't use some of their new found wealth to improve the stadium. Pretty bad when Oregon State is leaps and bounds ahead of you in facilities.

    ReplyDelete
  2. The Expansion plans in place will make D. Wade even bigger and better, and we have a student body over 20,000. It's a great school, I wouldn't go anywhere else.

    ReplyDelete