20th Century Solution to 21st Century Problem

 

NYT2009010619123017C

At $5 a pop, people will be lining up for these seats at the new Temple stadium

You hear it all the time about modern-day problems of all sorts.

“You can’t apply 20th Century solutions to 21st Century problems.”

Strangely enough, from what we hear, Temple is close to announcing that a 20th Century solution will solve its most vexing problem of the last half-decade: Getting a neighborhood set on saying no to change its mind and say yes.

rooftop

A radical stadium design by the new stadium opens up seats in one end zone to be controlled by residents on the Norris side of 15th Street, with all of the proceeds for tickets sold on their rooftops going to the homeowners.

Temple got the idea from looking at photos of nearby Shibe Park, where 100 years ago the residents of Lehigh Avenue got some needed supplemental income by selling rooftop seating to Phillies and A’s fans.

“Money talks and it seems that the Norris Street people are listening,” one Temple source said. “We’re close. The new design will be a horseshoe and the open end will be facing the Norris Street side. We will build some pretty nice bleachers on the top of those houses and provide ticket takers and security at the front door of each house. The people who live there can go shopping on us for a couple of hours and, once the game is over, we will clean everything up and return the houses to those folks as they were.

“It’s a win-win for Temple and the community and we hope to present this idea at the next stadium stompers’ meeting. Hard for us to believe these people who are struggling financially will turn down this kind of financial windfall. Plus, Temple will have the most unique stadium design in the country. The rooftop seats will go for $5 each with the regular seating at $50 a ticket so there will be enough incentive for fans to use them.”

Applying good old-fashioned capitalism and an economic solution to the problem seems to work better than what the university has done over the past five years, pleading its case to a small group of people covering their ears.

“Hell, we’ll even call it Stompers Stadium if that’s what they want,” the Temple source said.

Happy April’s Fool Day everyone!!!!

 

 

Advertisement

7 thoughts on “20th Century Solution to 21st Century Problem

  1. Ah,yes. Wrigley Rooftops come to Philadelphia.

  2. Thought some might appreciate this piece from the Athletic

    11. Ryquell Armstead, Temple (5-11, 220)
    Millville, N.J. (Millville), Senior, 10/30/1996 (age 22.50)
    Grade: 4th Round

    HT WT HAND ARM WING 40 20 10 VJ BJ SS 3C BEN
    5112 220 9 1/8 30 5/8 72 3/4 4.45 2.61 1.57 30 09’06” 4.29 7.02 22
    Strengths: Classic north-south runner who quickly gets downhill…urgent runner and attacks the line of scrimmage…runs behind his pads and relies on forward momentum and leg drive to pick up positive yards…footwork to make hard stops and cut away from trouble…active in pass protection…highly competitive with or without the ball in his hands (former Temple head coach Geoff Collins: “He is one of the most competitive kids I have ever been around.”)…four career fumbles but only one in 2018…finished his career fourth all-time in rushing (2,812 yards) at Temple.

    Weaknesses: Runs square and lacks the hip or lower body flexibility to contort his frame…not elusive and won’t routinely make defenders miss…choppy footwork and tackles himself at times…lacks a home run gear…second-level vision is lacking…holds the ball too loose from his body…inconsistent focus and adjustment skills as a pass catcher…battled various minor injuries the past two seasons, including a sprained left ankle (October 2018) that sidelined him for several games.

    Summary: A two-year starter at Temple, Armstead had a disappointing junior season, but bounced back strong as the senior starter, averaging 109.8 rushing yards per game, which ranked 16th-best in the FBS. He also set an AAC single-game record with six rushing touchdowns vs. Houston (November 2018). Armstead isn’t much of a big-play threat due to his stiff hips, but he doesn’t waste time attacking run lanes and weaving through the defense. Once he gets the ball, he is like a runaway dump truck with the brake line cut, preferring to go through defenders. Overall, Armstead is a developmental third-down back with the competitive profile to grind out tough yards and hold up in pass protection – he will be drafted higher if he catches the ball well during pre-draft workouts.

    • His lack of agility will get him killed in the pros. He takes the full brunt of every hit. if I were him, I’d study films of Marcus Allen who lengthened his career by doing everything he could to avoid solid hits, including running out of bounds.

      • I think he’s better than anybody on the Eagles right now if Ajay doesn’t come back. Durability is a huge issue, though, as it was for Ajay.

  3. In unrelated news, a joint venture between Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe, a private equity fund, and Geisenger Health Systems, has reportedly purchased a 51% stake in the Temple University Health System, giving the university the much needed money to purchase land in East Fairmount Park. Expect the stadium to be built just south of East Park Reservoir, bordered by Kelly Drive, N 33rd St, and W Girard Ave .

    April Fools !!!!

Leave a Reply

Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in:

WordPress.com Logo

You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. Log Out /  Change )

Facebook photo

You are commenting using your Facebook account. Log Out /  Change )

Connecting to %s