04.20.18
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Pumping The Brakes Means A Left Turn

A week ago, the guy who holds the hammer in this whole Temple Stadium controversy wrote an op-ed in the Philadelphia Inquirer to express his feelings on the project.

If you read the entire thing, he’s against it, essentially saying Temple should “pump the brakes” on a new campus stadium.

The guy is Darrell Clarke. The way politics works in Philadelphia is that the councilman in any district has veto power over a project in his district.

Clarke is not only the Philadelphia City Council President, he is the councilman in that very district. He can afford to tell Temple University to pump the brakes on the project. Temple University cannot afford to wait due to the timeline of its lease with Lincoln Financial Field running out in 2020.

The “community” is vigorously against this project. It’s not 50-50. It’s not even 80-20. It’s more like 90-10. This is not a similar case to what is now the Liacouras Center when palms needed to be greased in order to move the project forward. There simply is not enough oil here to move the gears.

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Darrell Clarke would rather Geasey Field remain an empty lot than a beautiful new stadium

If Clarke says “pumps the brakes” Temple should then recognize what intersection it is approaching and make a left turn.

It appears as though the City of Philadelphia, which really holds the hammer here, will never give Temple the permissions to close 15th Street forever (between Norris and Montgomery) to appease the residents who vote for Clarke in every election. Without 15th closed, there is only one other open space on the Main Campus large enough to build what Temple needs.

The left turn Temple needs to make is at 15th and Montgomery, make a right at Broad Street and travel a couple of blocks south to Masters to build the stadium. The city has no grounds to oppose a football stadium at The Temple Sports Complex since two stadiums have been existing there without opposition for two years and no closure of any street would be necessary. Even if the City would try to block a stadium at that site, Temple–with the most graduates of any school in Pennsylvania appeals courts–probably would prevail on the argument that it was allowed to build dorms and classrooms on its property and should be able to build a needed “multi-purpose” facility there as well.

If not, you can forget about a new stadium at best and Temple football at worst. If Temple football is forced to return to that dump called Franklin Field, the program is doomed. Chester’s 18,500-soccer stadium is a far worse option. If the Phillies ever exit Citizens Bank Park, that would be ideal but that appears to be at least 20 years down the road that is called Broad Street.

The uni would have to do something it said it cannot do—pay the Philadelphia Eagles a $3 million a year lease to rent Lincoln Financial Field on top of a one-time “stadium improvement fee” of $12 million.

Of course, this can all be avoided if the BOT would change plans and build the stadium at The Temple Sports Complex.

On first glance, building a football stadium over a brand new $22 million Olympic Sports Complex would be an admission by Temple that it made a mistake building that facility there and they would not do that.

There is a precedence, though. A few  years earlier, the same board of trustees spent $12 million less to build an Olympic sports complex in Ambler that included also baseball and softball and abandoned it for the Broad and Masters facility.

If they can do that then, they can do this now. The Olympic sports teams can be moved back to Geasey Field.

Running out of time and options,  it is the logical thing to do and, in this political climate, the sooner the better.

Monday: Above The Line

04.18.18
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New Slogan: Mayhem Is Here

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At this time a year ago, the slogan on the shirts at the Edberg-Olson Complex was “Mayhem is Coming.”

A year later on Cherry and White at a much better venue, The Temple Sports Complex, there were a few “Mayhem is Here” T-Shirts visible (although I could not find where to purchase one).

The change of slogans pretty much is an indication of how far we’ve come in expectations. I did not see much defensive Mayhem until the final game of the year, a 28-3 win over Florida International in the Gasparilla Bowl.

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Let’s hope that it becomes the norm, not the exception, this year.

That’s the biggest difference this year could make in that a proven SEC coordinator has finally put his defense in place with the kind of talent that can get to the quarterback and cause significant disruptions at the point of attack. That’s my definition of Mayhem: Hitting the quarterback so much he either fumbles the ball or forces interceptions.

The other pieces to this puzzle seem to be fitting quite well.

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Frank Nutile’s game is very similar to Jim Plunkett’s

Quarterback

At this time last year the Owls had four quarterbacks. As they say, when you have two quarterbacks you have none and four just doubles that equation. Now the Owls have one of the very few returning bowl-winning quarterbacks in Jim Plunkett clone Frank Nutile and have seen significant improvement from backup Anthony Russo. Toddy Centeio is the special packages (wildcat) quarterback and Trad Beatty could be the quarterback two years down the road if he’s redshirted. This position was a question mark last year and is now an exclamation point. The receivers are in good hands (pun intended) with holdovers Ventell Bryant and Isaiah Wright and newcomers Jadan Blue and Sean Ryan, among others.

Offensive Line

Owls’ coach Chris Wisenhan said that the three interior linemen anchored by Dave Rimington candidate Matt Hennessey could be the best in his five years at Temple. That’s saying a lot since Kyle Friend was a pretty good center and represents a significant upgrade from this time a year ago.

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Running backs

Ryquell Armstead, who had 916 yards and 15 touchdowns two years ago, is back to full health after being banged up much of last year. He is being pushed by Jager Gardner, who was even worse banged up in that he had to take a redshirt year. Gardner, as a true freshman, set the Temple record for longest  run from scrimmage (a 94-yard touchdown against SMU). Considering that the Owls were down to using a fullback (Rob Ritrovato) at tailback due to injuries, the Owls are in a much-better spot.

Defensive Line

Another area of strength as Michael Dogbe earned a single digit and former Penn State commit Karamo Dioubate joins Dan Archibong and Temperor in Training Freddy Booth-Lloyd on a line that can cause Mayhem all by themselves. Dogbe, Dioubate and Archibong have position flexibility as tight ends but hopefully head coach Geoff Collins leaves those duties to Chris Myrick and Kenny Yoboah.

Linebackers

They looked young and lost last year but are the strength of the team led by Shaun Bradley and former St. Joseph’s Prep first-team All-Catholic Todd Jones.

All in all, what a difference a year makes with some additional help on the way in August.

Don’t order National Championship game tickets quite yet, but a Lincoln Financial Field AAC championship game is not out of the question.

04.16.18
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5 Takeaways From Cherry and White

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Temple was able to close two roads and have recruit only porta potties

This year Cherry and White was more than a game or a day.

It was a two-day celebration of how special a place Temple University is, starting with the surprise celebration in Center City on Friday night attended by over 200 of Paul Palmer’s closest friends.

 

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That was important because Palmer’s induction into the College Football Hall of Fame this December doesn’t just lift him up but all of Temple football because he is the very first Temple player ever inducted.

Then, the next day, over 5,000 fans attended the Cherry and White game and, while there is always optimism on this day, this seems a little more well-founded than other Cherry and White Days. Head coach Geoff Collins addressed the football team afterward and told them they were a very good football team on the way to being great.

No denying there is plenty of talent there, but how that talent translates into number of wins is a matter of debate. It SHOULD be more than the seven last year, but whether that is eight or 12 or somewhere in between won’t be proven until December.

Here are five takeaways to consider:

Last Line Of Defense

When you lose three of four starting defensive backs—guys who were the last line of defense for an AAC championship team two years ago—there is a sense of urgency to plug those holes and, in Keyvone Bruton, Rock Ya-Sin and Benny Walls, the holes seem to be not only plugged but tightened. After Mike Jones was called for a bogus interference play on an interception in the Houston game, Jones seemed to back off the rest of the season. Bruton, Ya-Sin and Walls have a lot of athleticism but no quit in them.

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Every seat on both sides of the field taken plus a larger number of standees ringing the field

Building Depth

We all know that Ventell Bryant and Isaiah Wright are probably the most talented wide receiving tandem in the league but, after losing dynamic players like Keith Kirkwood and Adonis Jennings, it was important to find reliable backups. Enter Jadan Blue, who caught three touchdowns for the Cherry team in a 28-24 win. Sean Ryan, the true freshman from NYC, also looks like a contributor. If they can bring to the table what Kirkwood and Jennings did last year, there is not going to be a dropoff in the wide receiver room.

Bowl Winning Quarterback

With 40 bowl games, there were only 20 bowl-winning quarterbacks last year and many of them either graduated or will be in the NFL draft. That means Temple has one of the few proven bowl winners back in Frank Nutile. Fortunately, head coach Geoff Collins is showing no inclination to make Nutile a tight end. When Matt Rhule took over the program in 2013, he took a 2011 bowl-winning quarterback and made him a tight end. Those days are over and that bodes well for the 2018 season. That said, Collins said Temple is one of the few programs with four quarterbacks who are now ready to play. They only need three, so hopefully they can redshirt one.

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Every seat was taken on both sides of the field and fans were ringed tight throughout

Venue and Crowd

With 5,000 fans—every one of the 2,500 seats in the soccer stadium was taken and there were at least that many, maybe more, standing on the sidelines—this was the perfect venue for the Cherry and White game and Collins acknowledged that afterward.

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It was pretty apparent to everyone there that the spot is probably more doable for a stadium than the Geasey Field location. Temple made a mistake putting the Olympic sports there and probably should be big enough to admit it should the politicians deny the university the proposed 15th and Norris location. I hate to be a party pooper, but I don’t see how the university overcomes the obstacle of closing 15th Street to build the new stadium so Broad and Master becomes a viable option in that it is ALL on Temple property and Temple can probably sue the city in state and federal court to build whatever it wants on that site.  But that would take eating the $22 million mistake and building a football stadium on the site of the other sports stadiums. That said, speaking about pooping ….

Recruit Porta Potties

Without getting into names (there could be an NCAA violation involved), we were told there was at least one five-star and several four-star recruits in attendance. If the Owls’ recruiting class gets ranked higher this year, credit the “recruit-only porta potties” that were next to the recruit-only tent. That’s no shit (see lower right in the diagram at the top). I asked an all-time great Temple player who shall remain nameless if they had recruit-only porta potties when he was being wooed to Temple and he said, “I think they gave me a bottle to pee in.”

Wednesday:  The difference a year makes

Friday: Pumping The Brakes

04.13.18
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5 Things To Watch for at Cherry and White

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Take this from a guy who has been to the past 43 Cherry and White games: This one as all the makings for being one of the best.

Trust me.

I’ve been to the worst.

Last year, was Worst No. 2 only behind Worst No. 1 at Lincoln Financial Field a couple years earlier. Nothing worse than 1,000 fans in a 70,000 stadium watching a spring game.

Last year, the weather almost topped it.

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A year ago almost to the day I stood on the top bleacher at the Diamond Street end zone with an umbrella over my head and ducking behind the 6-foot-4 guy standing on the bleacher below me to get a view of Logan Marchi throwing two interceptions off his back foot. He was BY FAR … FAR … the worst of the four quarterbacks playing that day but somehow he started the opener at Notre Dame and was only able to put up 16 points in the next game against a team Rhode Island scorched for 20 points.

It sucked big time.

This year, with 2,500 seats in the beautiful new Temple Sports Complex, I’m pretty much guaranteed of a good view.

Here are the five things I’m looking for:

Ambiance

You might say I’m a dreamer but, as the Beatles would say, I’m not the only one. This is kind of a mini-preview of what to expect at the new stadium. I have serious doubts that this will ever be built but there will be 5-10,000 people there tomorrow and tailgating in that confined space I believe is doable and will be fun. I will get back to you on those points Monday. The new stadium won’t be the same experience as Lincoln Financial Field but it could be better.

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Weather

Mid-April is always a crapshoot in Philadelphia. Last year, to be kind, sucked. We got soaked. Everyone brought an umbrella. This year, with an 80-degree and sunny day forecast, I’ll probably be wearing the 27-10 Penn State T-Shirt.

Coaching

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Last year, it was a clusterbleep because these were first-year guys doing a first-year thing. Let’s hope it’s more focused this season. To me, I want to see kicking in a game situation (punting, punt and kickoff returns, field goals under pressure) and we saw none of that last year in the rain. This is the one chance to kick a pressure field goal in the rain and to see the new punter. That would be nice.

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Position Battles

This might be the most important. We all know that Juice is No. 1 and Anthony is No. 2 at quarterback. Isn’t that a much nicer spot to be than we were this time last year when no one had a clue? Absolutely. Let’s move on to other important spots like defensive back, where Benny Walls is battling Keyvone Bruton for the free safety slot opposite strong safety Delvon Randall. I personally think the Owls are in good shape with either guy but, if one guy comes up with two picks on Saturday, it would be hard to keep him out of the starting lineup. Who will emerge as the No.3 wide receiver?. I think it could be Sean Ryan but Jadan Blue could prove me wrong. Right now, Isaiah Wright–a touchdown waiting to happen–is my current favorite Temple player (following in a line that included Adam DiMichele, Bernard Pierce, Tyler Matakevich and Nick Sharga). Him and Ventell Bryant are the two best receivers in the AAC and it’s not even close. Let’s find a third tomorrow.

Gambling

They say you are a sick mofo if you bet an NFL preseason game. You need to call Gamblers Anonymous, though, if you bet the Cherry and White game. That said, after carefully perusing the rosters, I think Cherry wins this one: Say, 17-7. I don’t think they gave the White a shot. Not betting a penny, though.  More than gambling, though, might be the gossip and since I have the ear of one or two donors, I will be able to garner some of the lowdown on the new stadium. Let’s just say I’m not optimistic at this point. I hope I hear differently on Saturday.

Monday: Cherry and White Takeaways

 

04.11.18
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The Scrimmage: Sensitivity and Football

additions

Nowhere in any of these stories dating back to 2013 on this site will you find a negative word about Frank Nutile.

Someone is sensitive out there.

Sensitivity and football usually don’t mix and we got a post the other day saying because we have been impressed with Anthony Russo this spring we are “not giving Frank Nutile the respect he deserves.”

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Sensitivity and football usually don’t mix and we decided not to run the comment because it mentioned a valued poster (not me) and that’s against our rules to personally attack another poster.

Even more important is the flawed premise of the post: That we don’t love Frank Nutile. Liking what Anthony Russo brings to the table in no way diminishes our respect and love for Frank Nutile. The two thoughts are not mutually exclusive.  It’s OK to love BOTH Frank and Anthony and wish that both get playing time without diminishing the other.

Here’s what we have said about Frank in our most recent post:

dibsters

How the hell can anyone interpret that as a knock on Frank? Heck, I think even Frank thinks that if he has the same first seven games that Logan Marchi had he would deserve to sit. That said, I hope Frank does a Peyton Manning impersonation the first seven games.

If anything the most recent scrimmage proved it that Temple’s quarterback position is in a lot better shape now that than it was this time last year. Frank is No. 1 and Anthony is No. 2. Last year, four guys were No. 1 and head coach Geoff Collins said all four would play in the first game.

He lied, primarily because he trusted his offensive coordinator too much to make the decision. The OC recruited Marchi for Coastal Carolina. Marchi was the fourth-best quarterback in the Cherry and White game and that wasn’t even subject to debate. The other three were about the same. Now there are checks and balances in place in that Marchi is gone and Ed Foley is assistant head coach in charge of the offense.

Nutile no doubt is THE guy but competition is good for any organization and anyone who doubts that is a fan of the wrong sport.

Friday: 5 Things To Look for On Cherry and White Day

04.09.18
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Spring Phenoms Old and New

zamani

Great Zamani Feelings shot of Bruce Arians, Geoff Collins and Todd Bowles on Saturday.

Having seen names like Myron Myles and Lou Angelo light it up on Cherry and White Day and disappear a few months later, I’ve come to take a skeptical view of one-day spring wonders.

That said, spring practice is more than a month of hard-hitting and difficult throws and catches so the cream seems to rise to the top over 30 days and this year offers several intriguing candidates. Forget some of what you will see on Saturday in the spring game and remember a lot of what you see below.

From what I’ve been told from people who have been able to see at least one practice every week, these are the guys who are getting the reps that might surprise you (hometowns in parathesis):

Sean Ryan, WR, New York City

After Ventell Bryant and Isaiah Wright—probably one of the best receiving tandems in the nation—there was a huge dropoff in talent from the first to second unit. Ryan, one of NYC’s top receivers a year ago, seems to be filling the talent void and has made a number of difficult catches with the kind of deep speed that Wright seems to have. Offensive coordinator Dave Patenaude likes to use three-receiver packages and do not be surprised if Ryan is able to make an impact right away.

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Anthony Russo, QB.  Doylestown

Patenaude said at the end of last year that Russo was “light year’s different” in practice in December than he was in September. Add that to the fact that Patenaude also said early last March that Russo corrected a “looping motion” in his release plus increased playing time with the ones means that Russo could slot into the role Nutile had at the beginning of last year—a guy in the No. 2 slot who is ready to get his chance in a real game. Mix in the fact that the staff is trying to find new positions for Todd Centeio and there is a clear indication that the first and second jobs are Frank Nutile’s and Russo’s. A lot of the Philadelphia area has been waiting to see what Russo can do in a real game and not a practice or a scrimmage and this year could very well be that chance. It took the staff eight games before it finally decided to insert Nutile in there to give him a chance to run the squad and hopefully they will give Russo the same chance this season that Juice got last one.

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Jager Gardner, Black Mountain (N.C.)

One thing that has been a relatively accurate predictor of future success at Temple for any player has been eye-popping numbers in high school. Folks here kind of knew Adam DiMichele would have projected as a pretty good quarterback here when he tossed 35 touchdown passes as a senior for Sto-Rox in the WPIAL. As a running back, Gardner had far better numbers than the other guy, Ryquell Armstead, who came in his class. Gardner’s senior year numbers: 2,776 yards and 36 touchdowns on 282 carries. Armstead’s senior year numbers at Vineland (N.J.): 1,488 and 18 touchdowns. Gardner got injured and fell behind and now seems to have caught up. Head Coach Collins said this has been a “break out” spring for him. Since Gardner already owns the Temple all-time record for longest run from scrimmage, that bodes well for this year.

Rock Ya-Sin, DB, Decatur (Ga.)

Already one of the greatest “names” in Temple roster history, Rock looks primed to become one of the great producers on the field in this his first season for the Owls after transferring from FCS school Presbyterian. Last season, playing for a Villanova-level school, Ya-Sin led his team with 49 tackles and five interceptions. More importantly, he has stood out during spring practices in an area of need—defensive back—as the Owls scrape hard to find replacements for three departed starters.

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Benny Walls, Safety, Cherry Hill, N.J. and Keyvone Bruton, Norfolk, Va.

Walls was a standout for a great state championship team in St. Joseph’s Prep and clearly the star of Wednesday’s practice when Collins tweeted that Walls had a dominant day. Walls was a two-time first-team All-Catholic playing in one of the best high school football leagues in the nation. Benny has great athletic genes. His dad, also Benny, played basketball at Camden High and his uncle, Kevin Walls, was even more famous–scoring 81 points in a single game for Camden High before going off to Louisville to play his college basketball. Bruton—not to be confused with defensive backs coach Nate BURTON (different spelling) had 18 interceptions for Lake Taylor (Va.) High and is just as likely to be a starter with Delvon Randall as Walls is and this should be a position battle that lasts through the summer.

Wednesday: The Scrimmage

Friday: 5 Things to Watch for at Cherry and White

 

04.05.18
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New Uniforms?

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These uniforms are probably the best ones featuring the Temple ‘][‘ on the helmet

In the grand scheme of things, uniforms rate somewhat behind coaching, talent, practice facilities, stadiums and fan bases in terms of importance.

That doesn’t mean they aren’t important at all because they are.

During one of the great Temple wins recently—an overtime win at UConn in 2012 that made the Owls 2-0 in a one-time BCS league—it was with great pride that I noted that the Owls did it wearing what I thought was their best uniform combination:

Cherry pants, white stripes, white jerseys, cherry helmets.slight

They played well and looked good.

It is against that backdrop that I cringed when I heard Temple was getting new uniforms by the end of this month.

If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.

At Temple, it ain’t broke but fixing it could break it.

All over the NCAA, I see teams with awful-looking so-called “modern” uniforms—Maryland comes in the 2011 Temple game comes to mind here—getting their asses kicked by more traditional uniforms.

Temple’s uniforms have remained pretty much the same through the years.

When Al Golden got here, he eliminated the Temple ][ on the helmets for a very good reason because he felt the “football brand” at Temple when he played at Penn State represented toughness and that brand was having TEMPLE spelled out across the helmets.

NCAA FOOTBALL: OCT 31 Temple at Navy

That brand was created by Wayne Hardin in 1970.

“We want people to know who were are,” Hardin said. “We’re Temple. We’re spelling it on the helmets so they won’t forget who we are. There are plenty of schools that have T’s on the helmet but not many that spell the name.”

That brand continued until Jerry Berndt brought the T back because Penn, the Philadelphia team he formerly coached, had a P on it.

To me,  that wasn’t a very good reason.

Golden brought TEMPLE back on the helmet and that lasted until a bald-headed guy who shall remain nameless brought the T back. I’m OK with the ‘][‘ because it is the school brand but not OK with an entirely new look because it is supposed to be attractive to recruits.

Something tells me the new uniforms are going to be closer to a Maryland-type monstrosity—the Under Armour CEO is a Maryland grad—than a more traditional Temple look.

Whatever it is, if the word TEMPLE comes back on the helmet, that would be an acceptable step forward and a fitting tribute to the Hardin Era.

Monday: Spring Phenoms Old and New

Wednesday: The Scrimmage

Friday: 5 Things To Look For At Cherry and White

04.03.18
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The Stadium: The Rest of The Story

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The infamous “Bullhorn Lady”

For those of us at a certain age, the radio broadcast “The Rest of the Story” with Paul Harvey reminds me a lot of the opinion stories on the op-ed pages of The Inquirer, The Daily News and Philly.com about the proposed Temple Stadium.

They are all anti-stadium, none pro.

protestors

 

The truth is that you won’t know the “rest of the story” on any opinion pages of your newspaper because the other side isn’t allowed to opine

 

Harvey’s stories presented as little-known or forgotten facts on a variety of subjects with some key element of the story held back until the end. The broadcasts always concluded with a variation on the tag line “And now you know the rest of the story.”

The truth is that you won’t know the “rest of the story” on any opinion pages of your newspaper because the other side isn’t allowed to opine.

I found that out first-hand the last couple of weeks.

I first reached out to former Inquirer editor Bill Marrimow—a good guy who used to stop by my desk and shoot the breeze when I worked there—and he agreed with me that there should be varied opinions published:

Hi Mike – Because I am no longer working in the newsroom, you would definitely fare better if you submitted your piece on your own. By the way, I agree with you that it would be worthwhile for us to publish some opinion pieces in favor of building the stadium at Temple to provide another point of view.–BIll

So I did and this is the response I got from an editor at Philly.com named Erica Palan (her words in bold):

Can you say something about how the community members don’t have a right to weigh in on whether or not Temple builds a stadium because they don’t own the land?

 Are there other points of confusion between the neighborhood people and Temple? If so, explain what they are and why Temple is in the right.

These are the edits I was asked for and provided:

  1. The community absolutely does have the right to voice input on the project. They do not, I believe, should have veto power over it. 

2, The stadium should be built not for older graduates like me, but for the 12,500 students who live in and around the current vibrant campus now. When I went to school in the 1970s, there were no more than 1,000 student residents and the rest of us were commuters. These students deserve the same kind of experiences that students of other universities surrounded by dense residential areas have, like those at Boston College and Georgia Tech. Having football stadiums on campus at those schools help bind those students closer to their universities while in school and create a more active alumni base once gone.  Those Temple students and the university as a whole deserve advantages other similar urban schools with stadiums in residential footprints enjoy.

It has still yet to be published and I do not expect it to be.

Something tells me the vitriolic anti-Temple Stadium op-eds we see on the pages of the Inquirer and Daily News are not held to the same rigid editing standards nor should they because they are opinion pieces and those holding an anti-stadium opinion deserve to voice their side of the story.

The same latitude should be given the pro-stadium opinions and the fact that we haven’t seen one yet published is, sadly, not accidental.

And that’s the rest of the story.

04.01.18
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Community, Temple Finally Reach Deal On Stadium

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The Apollo of Amazon at Temple will be modeled after Dubai’s 35,000 underground indoor soccer stadium here.

On a scale of 1-to-10, the possibility of Temple building a new football stadium reaching fruition looked like a one.

From the university’s perspective, that’s not a good number.

Until Saturday.

It was learned that Amazon.com CEO Jeff Bezos stepped in to mediate a deal between the city, community residents and Temple. If the deal is approved by City Council, Amazon will built its H2Q on the site of the stadium and the proposed outdoor stadium will now become a 35,000-seat Carrier Dome-like indoor stadium below the H2Q.

The working name of the stadium will The Apollo of Amazon at Temple and it will be built entirely underground and completely out of site of the community.

“Hey, we want to build our H2Q in Philadelphia, but we didn’t really like any of the sites,” Bezos said.  “They wanted to put us in University City and the Northeast and we just didn’t like those locations for a number of reasons I won’t get into here. Temple puts us in the middle of a dynamic urban university with a ready-made workforce, near one of the nation’s top business schools and a great public transportation system. We want that site for our headquarters, but we also wanted Temple to achieve its dream of a stadium. I’ve been following the story from the newsroom of The Washington Post (where Bezos is publisher).

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Amazon’s new H2Q facility at 15th and Norris will look something like Madison Square Garden here.

“At Amazon, we’re all about what is inside the box but for this I wanted to think outside the box to please all parties. Being at Madison Square Garden recently, I saw that that the arena was located ABOVE Penn Station and thought that if we could put the stadium BELOW H2Q, we could solve a lot of issues. I want our headquarters to look exactly like Madison Square Garden and become the Mecca for business that MSG is to sports.”

Philadelphia Mayor James Kenney agreed.

“The stadium was always a no-go because of the community but this solves a lot of the community issues and gets us that H2Q we’ve always wanted in Philadelphia,” Kenney said. “The stadium will be below ground out of site of the community and walking to it will be similar to walking down to take the train in NYC now. That  Temple Stadium is out of sight and out of mind of the community and we get our economic driver in Amazon as a beacon to a prosperous future in Philadelphia.”

Bezos said he approached the solution as he would solving a math problem.

“It was always a number’s game,” he said. “One, the city doesn’t want the stadium. Two, the city wanted us more than it was against the stadium. Three, we could get naming rights for the extra $40 million it would take to put the stadium underground. Shuffle all of those numbers together and this was a deal that added up. If Dubai can have a 35,000 football (soccer) stadium, it’s about time the United States has one and we will make it happen.”

Bezos said that at one end of the field there will be a halogram with a “very realistic” view of the Center City skyline, giving the impression that it is a night time outdoor stadium. At the other end, there will be a state-of-the art 3D video board “much nicer than the HDTV one at Lincoln Financial Field.” During timeouts, Amazon Prime commercials will be aired.

“The ceiling of the stadium will be our floor but it will be painted as if it is a clear night with stars,” Bezos said. “There will be no feeling of  claustrophobia inside the stadium.”

Darrell L. Clarke, City Council president, said the community seemed placated by this deal.

“Not everyone, though,” Clarke said. “I would say most of the community was thrilled by the promise of jobs for community members at the H2Q site. They liked that part. The actual coming to work part, well, not so much.  I had a few of the Stadium Stompers say they are changing the name of the group to the Amazon Adversaries. If the Adversaries convince me they don’t want Amazon in the neighborhood, then I will not support it.”

Happy April Fool’s Day Everyone

Related Stories:

The Sky’s The Limit for 6-11 Walk-On

Big 10 Explores Idea of Adding Temple

Addazio’s First Five-Star Recruit

Prodigal Son Returns

Tuesday: The Rest of the Story

03.30.18
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The Fun Starts When The Winning Begins

practice

There used to be an old Beach Boys’ song about a Thunderbird and one of the lines was:

“She had fun, fun, fun until her Daddy took the T-Bird Away.”

We don’t think that’s on Jeremiah Atoki’s play list today at Temple football practice, but it sums up a lot of what has been going on with Temple football the last two years and something we had not seen for the prior 100 or so years:

  • No depth charts
  • Plenty of swag
  • Endless search for Mayhem
  • Only scholarship D.J. in college football
  • Position flexibility

A lot those topics are all about injecting fun into college football for the other 104 scholarship athletes on the roster. If you do those things and lose, it’s called shtick.  If you do those things and win championships, it’s called innovation.

As a cub reporter for the Temple News, I had a sit down with then Temple football coach Wayne Hardin in his cramped McGonigle Hall office and asked him what was the most “fun” thing about being Temple football coach.

celebration
Winning at UConn on a last-second FG: Doesn’t get much more fun than this celebration

I’ll never forget his answer.

“To me, the only thing that’s fun is winning,” he said.

On his last day as a head coach, he mentioned to me he was quitting at the end of a mediocre 1982 season. Standing in a small room after the last game, I asked why.

“Mediocrity is not my cup of tea,” he said.

That was at what I thought was a pretty young and vital age of 55.


To me, a 7-6 record
is the very definition
of mediocre, bowl win
notwithstanding. Temple
is going to have to do
better this year for it
to be a successful season.
To me, Temple TUFF is
back-to-back 10-win seasons,
not finishing around the
middle of a 126-team FBS pack

Nobody won more and lost less as a Temple football coach, so I consider Hardin, not Geoff Collins, the expert here. I wish coach was alive today so I could ask him about the bullet points above, but he’s not and I don’t think he would look too kindly on the changes.

It wouldn’t have as much to do with being an old foogie as it would be a difference of philosophy on how to get to the end result.

To me, a 7-6 record is the very definition of mediocre, bowl win notwithstanding. Temple is going to have to do better this year for it to be a successful season. To me, Temple TUFF is back-to-back 10-win seasons, not finishing around the middle of a 126-team FBS pack.

Position flexibility is a great thing if you have a pass rusher like Romond Deloatch who also plays wide receiver. I did not see any of the pass-rushing attributes in Keith Kirkwood that I saw in Deloatch, so taking reps from Deloatch on the other side of the ball for the minimum snaps he gave the team as a DE last year was, in my mind, counterproductive.

Now we have the team’s best linebacker, Shaun Bradley, taking reps at a position where the Owls are deep—running back—and you have to question the process.

The Owls did not use Nick Sharga as a fullback last year nearly as much as they did in that championship season two years ago and, in retrospect, they probably should have used him at a position of need, linebacker, if the offensive staff felt he wasn’t going to get reps. Sharga was an impact player on defense at Army, and a forgotten man the rest of the season.

Whatever Collins decides to do is OK with me, as long as the bottom line is achieved—a championship.

If it doesn’t happen this season, his daddy (Pat Kraft) should take the T-Bird away and replace it with a whip. As coach Hardin says, the only fun in football is winning and that should be the eternal measuring stick.

Until proven otherwise, anything else is shtick.

Sunday: Done Deal Part II

Tuesday: The Rest of The Story

Thursday: New Uniforms?

Saturday: Spring Phenoms