Rice Stadium needs a big makeover
Rice University used to be one of the better football schools in the nation. In a 25-year period from 1937-1962, the Owls won five Southwest Conference championships and finished in the top 10 of the Associated Press poll four times. We also made seven bowl appearances, including four Cotton Bowls — which at that time was probably the biggest bowl game any Texas school could go to — a Sugar Bowl and an Orange Bowl. Eleven All-Americans played for Rice during that span, and six Owls were picked in the first round of the National Football League draft. This may not sound like a lot to some of you Miami or USC fans, but considering we’ve only had six winning seasons, six All-Americans, two NFL first-round draft picks and no bowl appearances in the 43 years since 1962, those were impressive accomplishments.
The place to witness all of this gridiron success was Rice Stadium. Before 1950, Rice Stadium was actually located at the site of our current Rice Track/Soccer Stadium. Perhaps the greatest team in Rice history — the 1949 squad — played its home games at the old site. That year, Rice won 10 games and finished in the top five of the final AP poll for the first and only time in history. The success of that particular team led to the construction of the current Rice Stadium.
Somehow, somewhere, the Rice football program and the stadium that houses it lost their way. A place that once regularly drew 45-50,000 Owl fans is now lucky to see 15,000 cross the turnstiles. What was once the biggest and best place to watch a football game in the state of Texas is now a hideous monstrosity.
Rice Stadium needs a makeover. It is an unsuitable facility for a campus our size. I’m not saying we should tear it down, since that would be far too costly and would completely ignore the stadium’s historical significance. Nor do I think we should convert it into a tri-purpose facility and make it a football, track and soccer stadium. The small changes I propose would not cost as much money as either of those options and would simply help move the stadium into the 21st century.
First, Rice should tear down the upper seating levels that hardly anyone sits on. I understand those seats were a necessity in the earlier days of Rice Stadium, when it hosted several major rock concerts, Bluebonnet Bowls and Super Bowl VIII. But bowl games and concerts are now played in more fan-friendly facilities such as Reliant Stadium and the Toyota Center, so we need not worry about that stuff. And it’s not as if the twenty or so people who actually do sit on the upper levels couldn’t find a place below to sit.
Second, we need to get rid of those rotting wooden bleachers. Yes, they were good for 1950, but in today’s sports world wooden bleachers are ridiculous. Those things are clearly past their prime after enduring decades of all sorts of weather — blinding rains, blistering sun, oppressive humidity, you name it. While I would prefer to replace them all with seats similar to those found at Reckling Park, I realize that option might be a bit too expensive. Even metal bleachers, like the ones that are already located in various parts of the stadium, would at least be sturdy.
We must take out that Astroturf field and replace it with natural grass. Astroturf is the stuff of torn knee ligaments and broken ankles. Plenty of improvements have been made to the facility over the past ten years. A new weight-training complex was built and the locker rooms were expanded; a natural-grass field is the next logical step.
The last thing I want to see happen involves the “R” Room. I’ve always thought the history of Rice athletics should be made more available to the general student population. It would be cool to take all of the trophies, plaques, and banners from the “R” Room and Autry Court and put them all in one building — a new Rice Sports Hall of Fame building, if you will — somewhere closer to the center of campus, perhaps in a new recreation center. It should be free to the students and still be equipped for special ceremonies, like the “R” Room is now. People might not flock to this new building, but it would provide a fascinating way to learn about a part of our school’s history that often gets ignored. We are a very proud athletic institution as well as a proud academic institution, and it’s about time we show that off.
These suggestions of mine are not too expensive. They shouldn’t cause alarm. They should do is cause Rice fans to look at their football stadium — and their athletic history — with the same sense of pride that led to its construction in the first place. Hopefully other fans will feel the same way.
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