The Way Back Machine

[ChickenMan]

Open the below link..it was recently posted on the GoHens site.. photos from Delaware's 1976 season.. notice how the stands were full way back then just as they are now. Too bad the UD administration has lacked the vision to expand upon that great fan support over the past 35 years.

http://www.henshots.com/Football/Mid-70 ... 5808_ec7Na

[GannonFan]

Open the below link..it was recently posted on the GoHens site.. photos from Delaware's 1976 season.. notice how the stands were full way back then just as they are now. Too bad the UD administration has lacked the vision to expand upon that great fan support over the past 35 years.

http://www.henshots.com/Football/Mid-70 ... 5808_ec7Na

I didn't want to start an argument there, what with the board just being back up and all. But the idea that Delaware was "stagnant" (from that board) or lacked vision is a little off, IMO. Where exactly was Delaware going to grow into? I don't believe that the administration simply let football hang on a vine and whither - I think they made a very conscious choice that they did not have a desire to join DI-A and that they were comfortable playing in DII and then when that morphed and changed its name into DI-AA they decided to stay there. Not everyone has chosen DI-A or FBS football as the logical next step. I think UD decided they liked the level of football they were playing, and for quite some time they had, and really continue to have, some of the best facilities in the country, but really more so some of the best in their own neck of the woods. It wasn't until JMU built their athletic performance center in 2004 that that started to not be the case, but from the mid 70's until just a few years ago (a good 30 years or so), no one was building anything like what UD already had and still has. And ultimately, it will be a question of how much do schools like UD and JMU and ODU build to stay at this level. I wouldn't see a stadium bigger than 30k being a stadium that would be needed for FCS football. Once you start going beyond that then you do need to consider playing FBS football. Maybe the current UD administration will decide that they do want FBS football to be part of UD's future - nothing is wrong with that. Just like nothing was wrong with just deciding to stay in DII/I-AA/FCS and keeping the facilities that made sense for that level.

[ChickenMan]

I didn't want to start an argument there, what with the board just being back up and all. But the idea that Delaware was "stagnant" (from that board) or lacked vision is a little off, IMO. Where exactly was Delaware going to grow into?

When your ALL-TIME attendence record was set 38 years ago and since that time you have done nothing.. other than the required and necessary repairs to the field, scoreboard and practice field to grow and promote your product.. there is no doubt that there has been a total lack of vision and an unwillingness to 'invest' in the program. The press box at the Tub is over 60 years old and it is an embarrasment.. there is still had no chair back seating available anywhere in the stadium and the bathrooms are another embarrassment. This administration has done very little.. if anything to promote fan support/comfort over the past 40 years.. yet over that same 40 year period they have enjoyed more fan support than ANY other DII.. I-AA.. FCS program in the nation. Take a look at what other comparable FCS programs have done to improve or build new stadiums.. such as Montana.. GSU.. YSU.. JMU.. Princeton.. Citadel.. those are just off the top of my head.. I'm sure there are many more examples. Meanwhile UD is just now getting to the 'planning' stage relative to stadium upgrades.

Sorry.. but don't piss on my leg and tell me it's raining.

[GannonFan]

I didn't want to start an argument there, what with the board just being back up and all. But the idea that Delaware was "stagnant" (from that board) or lacked vision is a little off, IMO. Where exactly was Delaware going to grow into?

When your ALL-TIME attendence record was set 38 years ago and since that time you have done nothing.. other than the required and necessary repairs to the field, scoreboard and practice field to grow and promote your product.. there is no doubt that there has been a total lack of vision and an unwillingness to 'invest' in the program. The press box at the Tub is over 60 years old and it is an embarrasment.. there is still had no chair back seating available anywhere in the stadium and the bathrooms are another embarrassment. This administration has done very little.. if anything to promote fan support/comfort over the past 40 years.. yet over that same 40 year period they have enjoyed more fan support than ANY other DII.. I-AA.. FCS program in the nation. Take a look at what other comparable FCS programs have done to improve or build new stadiums.. such as Montana.. GSU.. YSU.. JMU.. those are just off the top of my head.. I'm sure there are many more examples. Meanwhile UD is just now getting to the 'planning' stage relative to stadium upgrades.

Sorry.. but don't piss on my leg and tell me it's raining.

Well, again, to what end? What would they have been "growing" and "promoting" their product for? Sure it's great to spend money and invest in your product, and obviously UD did at least tread water in that regard, but what really had to be done? You list chair backs and bathrooms. Is that really it? Is that what stagnation looks like, the lack of chairbacks? Yeah, sure the press box could look nicer, but that has nothing to do with fan support/comfort level - I don't plan on ever sitting there, do you?

But my point was that UD was, for the bulk of that 30 year period since the mid 70's, at the peak of what the rest of FCS had and still has today. Montana's stadium wasn't anything to look at when the Hens won there in '93. Sure, they've grown it since, but that didn't start until two decades after the pictures we're looking at. Heck, JMU is just now going about getting a new stadium so for the past 30 years UD, by doing nothing by your measure, had better facilities.

You can argue that UD, over the past 5-10 years, has been slow to realize the need for a building to house weight/training/locker/meeting rooms, and now over maybe the past 2-3 years the need for a larger, renovated stadium. But those are real recent scenarios - even as late as 2003, UD was still at the forefront of facilities and among just a small, small handful of teams in terms of quality of stadium.

Did UD's stadium and facilities hold them back for the past 30 years? No. We were never going to go to FBS and we had one of the best setups in all of FCS. A small handful are and have been catching up or going by us in the past decade, but not so many as to be impossible to keep up with, assuming those folks stay in FCS. UD's lack of change over the past 30 years only looks stagnant and counterproductive if you put on blinders and completely ignore the rest of the I-AA/FCS world during that time.

[ChickenMan]

If you are happy with the UD administration's actions/or lack of.. relative to their football program/stadium fine.. we will just have to agree to disagree.

[yorkcountyUNHfan]

the Tub is over 60 years old and it is an embarrasment..

Yes, you guys should be ashamed

[93henfan]

Love this pic. You just don't get any view of Iron Hill any more with the Bob in the way:



Re the pissing match, the truth is somewhere in the middle. The facility was great for many decades, it was allowed to be a neglected cash cow, and now it's finally being passed up by a few facilities. I think the admin realizes this, as they've shown their plans. Now they just need to raise the $$$.

[ChickenMan]

UD Strength coach Jason Beaulieu is leaving UD for a similar position at UNC.. no doubt the UNC job is a step up.. but Beaulieu would have preferred to stay in Newark. Below he states why he is leaving UD..


"...Expanded strength and conditioning facilities are to be part of UD's proposed athletics performance center to be built in the north end zone of Delaware Stadium. But no formal plan or timetable has been announced.

Beaulieu said he would have stayed at Delaware had he felt staffing and facility improvements were forthcoming. But he didn't detect the sense of urgency from UD's administration that he felt was necessary.

"For me, I needed a five-year vision for strength and conditioning and they weren't prepared to do that," Beaulieu said. "I went down there (UNC) and asked for a five-year vision and they laid it out for me in an hour."..

just more evidence relative to the UD administration's total lack of initiative.

http://www.delawareonline.com/article/2 ... ngth-coach

[bobbythekidd]

Take a look at what other comparable FCS programs have done to improve or build new stadiums.. such as Montana.. GSU.. YSU.. JMU.. Princeton.. Citadel.. those are just off the top of my head.. I'm sure there are many more examples. Meanwhile UD is just now getting to the 'planning' stage relative to stadium upgrades.

Sorry.. but don't piss on my leg and tell me it's raining.

/thread. Since 84 we got a small video board, a brick facade at field level, and a 3 story feildhouse that is missing the 3rd floor. 25+ years of a packed stadium and thats it.

[ChickenMan]

GSU's pressbox and enclosed seating puts UD 1950's style pressbox to shame.

[ASUG8]

We rented "Hot Tub Time Machine" last night. Pretty funny.

[bobbythekidd]

GSU's pressbox and enclosed seating puts UD 1950's style pressbox to shame.

We don't have a piss wall and even if we did it damn sure wouldn't be made out of marble!

[Ivytalk]

Peabody? Sherman?

[GannonFan]

If you are happy with the UD administration's actions/or lack of.. relative to their football program/stadium fine.. we will just have to agree to disagree.

I think you're missing my point - I'm not arguing that I'm happy with anything. I'm just arguing the idea that UD, staying in I-AA/FCS, could've or should've been expected to spend lavishly on football facilities over the past 30 years to avoid being "stagnant". All I did was point out that UD decided not to pursue I-A/FBS football, and that they rightfully saw that they had, and really still do, some of the best facilities in all of FCS, and that only in the last 5 years or so have other programs really caught up. Now, granted, if you think all they had to do was put in some chairbacks and get a new pressbox to not be stagnant then I'd just argue is that really a big deal in the grand scheme of things.