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Post by mtc13 on Jul 10, 2023 20:04:37 GMT -6
There has been talk, at least among fans, of bringing football back, and though in poor condition, Engel Stadium does belong to UTC, so we have a venue. I think the issue is the cost of bringing back the program as well as the cost of the women's sport(s) you'd have to add to offset it. UT-Chattanooga really needs to renovate Engel Stadium. Joe Engel would be ashamed at its condition.
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Post by mocs123 on Jul 11, 2023 11:55:10 GMT -6
The problem is I'm not sure where the money to renovate Engel would come from and it's probably hard to secure funding to renovate a building that's only being used for a club team. I hate it too as I grew up attending Lookouts games in Engel (and saw Michael Jordan play there with the Birmingham Barrons). There are some rumors that the Engel site may eventually be used for a new football stadium though I've also heard rumors of a new football stadium going in close the the Arena. There's student housing there now, but apparently it's due to be replaced at some point.
I see UNA is building (or planning to build) a new stadium. What capacity did you end up building?
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Post by brandon on Jul 11, 2023 15:55:12 GMT -6
The problem is I'm not sure where the money to renovate Engel would come from and it's probably hard to secure funding to renovate a building that's only being used for a club team. I hate it too as I grew up attending Lookouts games in Engel (and saw Michael Jordan play there with the Birmingham Barrons). There are some rumors that the Engel site may eventually be used for a new football stadium though I've also heard rumors of a new football stadium going in close the the Arena. There's student housing there now, but apparently it's due to be replaced at some point. I see UNA is building (or planning to build) a new stadium. What capacity did you end up building? Still in the planning stages. If will house Football, Baseball and Soccer. What I'm being told it it will be similar yo a minor league baseball stadium that will convert into football by bringing in temporary stands on one sideline. What I was told about capacity is they will build 10k seats for permanent searing that will be a modified U, the third base line will be the main grandstand, the left field and first base line will be enough to cover the endzones for football and soccer. Then the other side line will have anywhere from 3500 to 5000 seats of temporary seating to be brought in for football. So your looking at 13-15k in total for football. I think they are basically looking to mimic the architecture of the Trash Pandas stadium in a larger scale.
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Post by ekusteve on Aug 16, 2023 8:29:59 GMT -6
Saw an interesting post over on the CSN BBS board saying Tennessee Tech is looking to join the SOCON.
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Post by brandon on Aug 18, 2023 18:05:47 GMT -6
Saw an interesting post over on the CSN BBS board saying Tennessee Tech is looking to join the SOCON. Been trying to find out from TTU family members who are also very involved with TTU athletics and they haven't heard anything like that yet. It would be logical for them geographically though.
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Post by mocs123 on Sept 6, 2023 14:12:49 GMT -6
TTU would be a great addition for UTC, ETSU, and Samford, but I doubt the Carolina schools would be for the addition. TTU's academics are below what most of the private schools seem to want, and for the schools west of the Appalachians, geographically not as good of fit as other options. TTU hasn't exactly been killing it with their athletic department either.
And perhaps the most important thing - I don't think the private schools of the SoCon would be for adding any public schools without also adding a private school or two to keep the balance of power in their favor.
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Post by brandon on Sept 6, 2023 14:28:54 GMT -6
TTU would be a great addition for UTC, ETSU, and Samford, but I doubt the Carolina schools would be for the addition. TTU's academics are below what most of the private schools seem to want, and for the schools west of the Appalachians, geographically not as good of fit as other options. TTU hasn't exactly been killing it with their athletic department either. And perhaps the most important thing - I don't think the private schools of the SoCon would be for adding any public schools without also adding a private school or two to keep the balance of power in their favor. I still think UNA and Lipscomb would be the best combo for the SoCon... gives a nice western half to the conference. There are no good options for a football private. UNA is close enough to Mercer, and ETSU. Chattanooga and Samford are obvious. I think with UNA and Lipscomb, it's a well rounded conference. Lipscomb is also our non football rival...
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Post by mocs123 on Sept 6, 2023 17:46:09 GMT -6
I could get on board with UNA and Lipscomb.
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