Last donation: Ed P., Yardley, Pa. (1/9/23; thanks, Ed,, your generosity is greatly appreciated) Lawrence S., West Chester, Pa., 12/28/22, our first contribution in over a month (thanks Larry, this will help in having to replace the printer we purchased in the summer that went on the fritz); Bob C., Chadds Ford, Pa., 11/27/22 (thanks Bob, our first contribution since September) Ed P., Perkasie, Pa. who donated 9/24/22 at the UMass game and Ed and I both remember and love Pennridge coach Wayne Helman; Joe S. (Delaware County), 9/3/22 (thanks Joe, hope to see you at Lafayette or RU); James G. (thanks James and for all the great posts you make on this site),, 7/29/22: Matt P. (former Al Golden player, thank you Matt for the generous donation it will be put to good use as we will explain in Monday’s post), 6/9/22; Matt F., Horsham, Pa. (thanks, Matt!!), June 6, 2022; David, B., Milton, DE (thanks, Dave), April 11, 2022: Andy B., Philadelphia, Pa. (our first donation of 2022, thanks Andy), March 3, 2022; Ed P., Yardley, Pa. 12/25/21 (thanks, Ed for the Christmas donation); Matt F., no hometown found (“a celebratory donation for Carey’s firing”), 11/30/21 thanks, Matt; Jon E., Cincinnati, Ohio, 11/29/21 (thanks, Jon for the donation and the great comments on this site); James G., Royersford, Pa. 11/28/21 (thanks, Jim, for the donations and your comments on the website); Anonymous (no home town given but donation really appreciated), 11/20/2021; Roger D., Rehoboth Beach,, Del., 10/24/21; Joe S., Drexel Hill, Pa. 10/3/21 (thanks, Joe) At the BC game (9/18), John from Landenburg (thanks, John for being a great friend of this site for so many years); Three Aug. 21 donations: Eric A (former player), Atlanta, Ga; Anonymous (by request), Cincinnati, Oh; Tim R., Buffalo, N.Y. (sincere thanks to all); David N., Silver Springs, Md (thanks Dave) 7/10/21; former Temple player Matt P., who lives in Columbus, GA now (thanks Matt) 7/9/21; Joe F., Philadelphia (4/7/11, thanks Joe) Matt F., Horsham, Pa., 3/27/21 (thanks, Matt); Jon E., Cincinnati, Ohio (1/31/21, thanks Jon) Ed P.,, Yardley, Pa. (thanks, Ed, much appredicated), 1/16/21; Mitchell S. , 12/21/20, our first contribution since (10/8) earlier, Former Owl Bruce G., Flourtown, Pa, who generously donated $100 in “honor” of the Ambler guy 10/8/20; (if they hate you in Ambler, we love you in Flortown,” BG says). Thanks, BG, we appreciate it; Earlier: James G., Philadelphia (7/21/20, thanks James) Robert B., Philadelphia (7/13/20, thanks, Bob, hope to see you at the tailgates again this fall); Previous: Jon E. from Cincinnati 6/15/20, our first donation this calendar year (thanks, Jon); Earlier, John from Landenberg; Kurt B., Wyomissing Hills, PA (former Temple player, 10-15-19) Earlier: David B. , Springfield, PA (9/26/19 … thanks, Dave!) also John from Landenberg (9/21/19); Tom W., Palm Coast, Fla. (8/22/19, thanks Tom!! Also, 10 days earlier, Bob. C and Joe S. and, on June 26, first bowl MVP Mark B.
Earlier: Matt F., Philadelphia; Matt P. (former Temple player) John from Landenberg and Jon E. from Cincinnati
Jay M. no hometown found ; Earlier: William B. Chicago; John from Landenberg, ; Mark B, South Jersey, Joe S, Springfield, PA…,
Also:
Ed P., Perkasie, Pa; and Richard W. (no hometown given); Phil E., Lorton, Va.; Tim C., no hometown available; Bob C., David B., Springfield (Montco); Mark B., from South Jersey; John from Landenberg, Pa.; Joe S., Primos, PA; Thomas W., Palm Coast Fla; Jon E., Cincinnati; Mike S.,no hometown; Ed P., Yardley; William B., Chicago; Matt M., Philadelphia; Matt T.., Oreland; Kevin H., Philadelphia; John from Landenberg, Pa.; Carl M, Silver Spring, Md.;; Brett K., Swedesboro, N.J.; Joe S., Primos, Pa.; Ed M., Paoli, Pa.; Phil E., Lorton, Va.; Ross M., Garden City, NY; David K., Malvern; Jon E., Cincinnati ; Jon, SE Ohio; Cordalia and Jim S., Eastampton, NJ.; Herb G., Newport News, Va.; Richard W., Royersford; Matt T., Philadelphia, Pa.; MWB, Mechanicsville, Va.; Phil E., Lorton, Va.; K.J., Alexandria, Va.; Jeff D., Philadelphia,; Michael R., Philadelphia,Matt T, Philadelphia, Pa.; Ed M., Paoli, Pa.(8 in a row for 8 in a row, thanks EM); Jake and Diane Gicker, Dunmore, Pa.; Ed M., Paoli, Pa.; Adrian R. Sr., Harrisburg, Pa.; Frank M., Marlton, N.J.; Ernie, Millville, N.J.; ; Jay M., Salem, Ore.; Joe S., Primos, Pa.; Phil E., Lorton, Va; Tom W., Palm Coast, Fla.; Matt M., (five donations in a row); Kevin F., Philadelphia, Pa.;Matt M. (three donations in a row, thanks, Matt); Matt M.; Matt M.; Brian C., Philadelphia, Pa.; Matt M., Hometown ;Unknown; David N., Silver Spring, Md.; Matt M., hometown unknown; Frank K., Horseheads, N.Y.; Mike F., Montauk, N.Y.; John, Landenberg, Pa.; Michael B, D.C.; Joe S., Primos, Pa.; James G., Philadelphia, Pa.; Michael R., Philadelphia, Pa.; David N., Silver Spring (Md.);
Mark H., Gilbertsville, Pa.; Lisa M., Hummelstown, Pa.; Johnny Who, West Chester, Pa.; John T., Medford, N.J. (formerly North Catholic, Philly); Jon, SE Ohio; Jay M., Salem, Ore.; Dan M., Moscow, Pa.; Cyrus, Oklahoma City; Jon E., Cincinnati; Chris K., Harrisburg, Pa.; Chip M., Silver Spring, Md.; Dave B., Springfield, Pa.; Kent J., Alexandria, Va.; Ross M., Garden City, N.Y.; Joe S., Primos, Pa.; Ed F., Philadelphia, Pa.; Frank P., Jamison, Pa.; Jon E., Cincinnati, Ohio; Phil E., Lorton, Va.; Matt G., Haddonfield, N.J.; Tom L., Charlottesville, Va.; Thomas S., Landisville, Pa.; Jack D., Haddonfield, N.J.; Heriberto S., McDonough, Ga; Dr. Jim S., Mt. Pleasant, S.C.; Dick White, Milton, Del.; Matt T., Philadelphia; Jerome S., North Caldwell, N.J.; Mike D., Fairview, N.C.; Tim W., Myerstown, Pa.; Edward P., Yardley, Pa.; Tom W., Palm Coast, Fla.; Kurt B., Wyomissing, Pa.; Joe S., Primos, Pa.; Tom S., East Norriton, Pa.; Jon E., Cincinnati, Ohio; Matt T., Yardley, Pa.; Steve C., West Chester, Pa.; Floyd, Blackwood, N.J.; Jim J., Chalfont, Pa.; John, Landenberg, Pa; Jon E., Cincinnati; Ron A., Camp Hill, Pa.; Jay S., Jenkintown, Mr. John H.; Jonathan N., Atlanta, Ga.; Michael E., Levittown, Pa.; Ted D., Media, Pa. Nick and Sharon, Upper Bucks County; Phil E., Lorton, Va.; Todd H., New York City; Alex H., Westport, CT; Joe S., Primos, PA; Kent J., Alexandria, Va.; Ross M., Garden City, N.Y.; Stanley G., Mountain Top, Pa.; David N., Silver Spring, Md.; Micah F., Philadelphia, Pa.; James S., Mt. Pleasant, S.C.; Tom W., Palm Coast, Fla.; Johnny B. at the Hill Studio, Paulsboro, N.J.; Nick C., Philadelphia; Tom C., Birmingham, Ala.; Phil. E. (Fast Phil), Lorton, Va; Jerome S., North Caldwell, N.J.; Kent J., Alexandria, Va.; George P., Downingtown, Pa.; Edward F., Philadelphia; Bryan S., North East, Pa.; Josh P., West Chester, Pa.; Brent Z., Atlanta, Ga.; David B., Springfield (D), Pa; Lisa M., Hummelstown, Pa.; David H., Pottstown, Pa.; Brian O., Ambler, Pa; Frank P., Jamison, Pa.; Brian C., Philadelphia; Mark B., Manlius, N.Y.; Ted D., Media; Scott J., Columbus, Ohio; Thomas H., Mullica Hill, N.J.; George T., Rehoboth Beach, Del.; Rob G., Fleetwood, Pa; Steve C., West Chester, Pa.; Fred A., St. Augustine, Fla.; Michael S., Westfield, N.J.; John, Landenberg, Pa.; Kent J., Alexandria, Va.; Frank P., Jamison, Pa; Matt G., Basking Ridge, N.J.; Joe S., Primos, PA; Nick and Sharon, Upper Bucks County; John T., Medford, N.J.; Cap P., Finksburg, Md; Coolowl, New York City; Michael B., Washington, D.C.; Oakee, Salem, VA; Rob from Fleetwood; John from New Kensington; Kathyrn, Bloomingville, Ohio; Rockland Owl; Matt, Haddonfield, N.J.; Anthony, New York City; Jason F., Berlin (N.J.); Ed, New Hope; Mark B., Manlius, N.Y.; Mike, Lindenwold, N.J.; Tom C., Birmingham, Ala. Jim, Mt. Pleasant, S.C.; Kurt, Wyomissing Hills, PA;
Dave, Ocean City, N.J.; James, Chalfont; Ross, Garden City (N.Y.); Schmitty, Ocean City, N.J.; Sarge (via Schmitty);
Broad Street Leon; Martin, Encino (Calif.); John, Boston; Mike, Susannanoa, N.C.; Francis, Lansdale; Tom L., Charlottesville, Va.; Mark, Gilbertsville, Pa.; Frank, Sebastian, Fla.; George, Toms River, N.J.; Tom, Branchburg, N.J.; Chris, Philly (our first Philly donation!); John, Landenberg, Pa.; Tom S. East Norriton, Pa.;
Paying the Eagles $3M per year would make Temple liable for fraud, waste, and abuse.
How many colleges pay $3M to play six football games? Zero, none. No argument can support starting every home game $500K in the red before kick-off.
The BOT should resign, they are not worthy of continued appointment.
And, the Eagles know Philly loves them ten times more than Temple.
What’s makes his request for such high rent even more ludicrous is that he gets the parking and concessions as well. Like I’ve said before, the barriers facing a successful Owls football program were always high, They now are becoming almost insurmountable. If Lurie gets away with his thievery, attendance most assuredly will drop because ticket prices will double at a minimum. It’s hard enough to get people to buy tickets now. A doubling of the price will make it nearly impossible. it may be time to consider ending the program.
bit off topic but wanted to share, great set of slides from MR while at Baylor.
https://footballscoop.com/news/matt-rhule-on-brand-toughness-and-his-diet/
Good news is the benches at Franklin Field are now aluminum. All kidding aside I think this whole stadium fiasco is the biggest issue for TUFB and ten to agree with John that the possibility of ending the program may be a truly viable consideration. Clearly the prior administration not knowing Philly politics or at least learning from construction of the Liacourus Center was the downfall of the OCS. From day one Clarke should have been wooed by the administration because if he was on board if not completed by now construction would have been underway. The city council member in the district where a project like a stadium is being proposed is pretty much the sole gatekeeper of whether is proceeds or not. If Temple wants to continue playing football I don’t see any real alternative to playing at the Linc. Franklin Field would be fine if were “Conwell” Field and was on Broad not 33rd street, and for all the talk of building at Ambler, the only advantage that has is giving Temple control. Aside from that, it would be further than the Linc and I’m pretty sure the people in Ambler, Upper Dublin, etc. would be just as opposed as norht Philly residents and they have the money to fight it.
Call the Phils. They’re away Aug 29, Sep 12, and 26. October should be safely available. (Then a condition of the lease would be to NOT wear black or gray uniforms and always cherry helmets).
Really inept administration on this matter.
Forget about Ambler. You haven’t seen neighbors until you try to build something like a stadium in the suburbs. Nova went through and still is going through hell to build dorms and student centers. First, there is insufficient infrastructure in Ambler especially around the campus. After getting off 309,you go on single lane roads for a mile or so to get to the campus. 309 would quickly back up and it could take half an hour to get to the stadium once you do. . On top of that, no students would make the hour or so drive to get there. They barely go now.
Here’s a story about Nova.
http://www.mainlinetoday.com/Main-Line-Today/September-2019/Locals-Push-Back-Against-Villanova-University-Expansion-Project/
Those are the points the folks who keep bringing up Ambler never seem to get. Same as with the soccer stadium in Chester, not going to get students to go there for a game even it did have a larger seating capacity. I didn’t realize how small that stadium is until speaking with you at the Military Bowl. Temple only has 2 real alternatives, long term at the Linc or do what it takes to get an OCS approved.
This is the ridiculous situation in which our football team finds itself a little more than seven months from the Sep. 12th home opener against the dreaded Idaho Vandals! The university’s handling of this is beyond pathetic! Franklin Field not an option IMO! BTW, I remember those urinals! I believe the joint was built in 1922 and is deemed by the NCAA to be the oldest stadium still operating for football.
So we could be playing in an historic stadium!? Btw, I peed in urinals just like that at Virginia Tech, albeit back in the 90s and it’s no big deal. Like it or not, FF may be the only alternative to escape from Lurie’s highway robbery. Almost seems like TUs administration has planned this whole debacle so they have an excuse to drop football, because even if they dropped to Novas level, they still need a stadium to play home games. Someone needs to shake the BOT members into some sense or get new ones who know how to get the job done.
A deal WILL be be made between the university and the Eagles! FF not an option IMO! Scheduling (Penn plays there also you know), parking and tailgating would all be issues. Temple has played games before in this antique of a football stadium (I saw the Owls play Syracuse there many years back in front of 7,000 or so fans. At the time the university invited ‘Nova fans to come and cheer for the Owls after ‘Nova had discontinued their football program for a spell. Imagine that – ‘Nova fans cheering for Temple). Face it, in order to have a consistently successful program, you need to have your own friggin’ stadium! Build the thing OC! Do it damn it! I am sick of university administrators constantly fumbling the ball on this issue (pun intended)!
April 4th is going to be a great day. Booked my hotel as soon as the date was posted on owlscoop. Need great weather.
Talen Energy Stadium
capacity: 18,500. Temple’s “average” crowd over the last 10 years=26,045. Not an option unless Temple wants to piss away 10K worth of ticket sales.
No way Talen Energy or Franklin Field! A program on the rise such as ours (at least it WAS anyway) could afford to step backwards and play home games in such facilities! A deal WILL be made between TU and the Eagles, I just have no idea why it’s taking so long!
Mike, full disclosure a Houston alum here but mostly I enjoy college football. I really like your site and feel that UH has had many of the same problems with stadiums. When they played in the astrodome it aS great at first as the guy who had it built was a UH grad. But later team owners were real adversaries to the Cougars. when they moved back in campus into the expanded track stadium, the on campus experience made up for the facility being old. You guys really need that, along with being a competitor of the Linc for events. The soccer player there for a few years, and now in the new stadium, it is being leased to a new XFL football league. There may be revenue opportunities that are being missed!!! The American needs the Philadelphia market to get the ESPN revenue, and make P6 happen(P5.5 may be more realistic for now).
When the Philly Union was contemplating sites is where the ball was dropped for TU Football. Let’s be candid, does anyone really think Chester was a more desirable location than a downtown location for soccer? People drive in and out in Chester, no ancillary business for the community (was never going to happen). You needed a leader with relationship skills to get w the soccer club to partner on a downtown plan for a 32k -38k seat venue. You host TU football, Union soccer, Rugby, NCAA lax quarters or semis, NCAA final four as the Linc is too big. This wasn’t a reach, but the ball was dropped and you can place blame at the feet of TU, the Philly Union and City leaders.
C E Speed
The Temple BOT has far too many members without conviction and courage.
They sit, chit and chat, and nod approval for all things non-controversial. Many are political appointees who offer zero wisdom to the process. Those trustees could be replaced by trained dogs and nobody would notice.
The others sit there like ostriches.
The Temple BOT is a bureaucratic organization with a mission to protect the status quo. It is devoid of leadership.
Articles of Impeachment for the Temple BOT.
Don’t know if you can still find them online but there are Inquirer articles from ’96 or ’97 that you covered was apparently under discussion. This was before the Union when major league soccer was first looking to come back into Philly. I believe something like a 35K stadium was contemplated on the TU campus that would be for TUFB, pro soccer, etc.
In the 90’s TU and MLS formed an agreement to build a stadium both teams could use. Never heard that it was terminated. It would be a coup to find out why and how Chester was selected and who financially gained from that horrendous choice.
Part of the reason (amongst numerous others) the ‘BE nova upgrade plan’ that was floated out there in 2011 caused an uproar amongst the league teams at the time was that it called for nova home games to be played at PPL/ Talen Energy Stadium…that ‘option’ seems like a non-starter IMO.
Joe P.
By the way, I’m souring on TU sports. McKie so far is a disaster. I don’t know for certain but I think Dunphy forced TU’s hand by demanding that McKie be hired or else he was going to serve out the remaining two years on his contract. Instead of eating the contract and conducting a national search for a coach, they hired McKie. I said then that McKie was not the answer first because he had no head coaching experience and second, because he really had little success pulling in four or five star recruits when he was on Dunphy’s staff. He also has no personality, like Carey. Now we’re stuck with two bland coaches in an age where bling and excitement rule the day. In 80% of McKie’s games, the Owls have fallen behind by double digits in the first ten minutes of the game. They did not score for nine minutes after the tap and scored 16 total points for the first half today against a mediocre Penn team today that lost to St Joe’s. It is pathetic especially because TU’s basketball facilities match the best out there. It’s time to shake up the whole athletic department especially because the people running it are making big bucks and consistently come up short. Also, like KJ says, the BoT should be ashamed of itself and half those people should be terminated as well. Given the money that’s been spent on athletics, TU fans and students deserve better. I’m afraid it’s going to be a long time before things do get better.
I couldn’t have said it any better John! The situation with the two major university sports is disturbing to say the least! TU football has been around since 1894 with legendary coach Glenn Pop Warner as well as Ray Morrison and of late Matt Rhule as part of that tradition! Basketball is #5 all-time in number of wins, having had such famous coaches as Harry Litwack and John Chaney along the way. The mishandling of things related to these programs at this university is just awful! Someone needs to step up and take charge!
It is disheartening to watch schools like Louisville, Rutgers, Maryland, etc reap the benefits of P5 membership.
At one time Temple was in the same club…,
Year after year the BoT stands stranded in the harbor as other ships sail away.
Strategic plan? Do have any aspirations?
We were coming under MR. He left and we backed down. Cincy, UCF, Memphis, and now SMU have superior athletic departments. They have strong leadership at the top, financial, student body, and local support.
The BoT will sign a deal with the eagles which guarantees athletic financial insolvency. And, it gets worse by the day. The eagles gain more ($$$) leverage every hour.
What if the Lurie refuses to grant a lease? That is probably the best outcome in the long term.
Build over the train stop at 10th and Norris.
Would be nice to get off the train from Fox Chase and be right at the stadium in 20 minutes. I’ll take it.
The Union facility was sited in Chester after DRPA put up a significant sum (because it’s BoD are primarily politicians). There was a fund for projects like that they would contribute to. A lot of griping after doing that and suddenly that fund was no longer in the budget.
Wishful thinking by politicos that if public money is spent to build things in areas like that, it will magically result in people coming to spend their $.
Former Chester Resident