featherbutt wrote:hines wrote:
wow. so you've been to Penn State too? cool!
wow. so you've been to Nebraska too? cool!
wow. so you've been to Boise St. too? cool!
wow. so you've been to U of Illinois too? cool!
wow. so you've been to Wisconsin too? cool!
wow. so you've been to U of Arkansas too? cool!
shall I go on?
Penn State is close to major population centers here on the east coast. They also have a huge stadium.
Nebraska has tradition and are the only player in the state. They have a very large, nice stadium.
Illinois? I would guess that their level of recruits is not much different than ours. They have a large, redone stadium.
Wisconsin's town and campus are MUCH more appealing to the general student IMHO. I loved my time in Eugene however going to school in Madison would have been a lot more fun. They have a large, rowdy stadium
Arkansas's town aint much, however their facilities are fantastic and the weather, at first glance, is better than Eugene. They have a large, newly redone stadium
Should not be in the same argument:
Boise gets it done with coaching and chip on the shoulder attitude. We are not losing recruits to Boise.
I don't know about going against the listed schools for recruits. Seems to me that we have done OK going against Wisconsin and Nebraska with a few. Suh aside.
The one constant with all these schools (minus Boise) is stadium. That, I think is the most obvious gauge to most recruits. We as duck fans must come to grips with the fact that Autzen is nicer than it was, but it is still a tiny little dump of a place. The crowd can only do so much. Watching an Oregon game on TV is like pulling teeth for me. The camera angles make it look more like a HS stadium than a college shrine. In person it looks like a nice place, however if a recruit just came from a visit to Penn State, Nebraska, Illinois, or Wisconsin Autzen would look like a toy.
Fancy locker rooms only do part of the job. Indoor practice facilities try to hide another problem.
We can't change the fact that the weather in the Eugene/northwest area possibly could be the worst in the nation in the eyes of many recruits. Snow and cold does not bother a lot of people, especially if they are from an area like that already. Rain bothers everyone. Lack of sunshine bothers everyone. Everyone, that is, except Oregon Duck fans I guess.
Although I am sure that finishing the north side of Autzen might not be worth the dollars right now (or ever), I do wish it somehow could get done. We need 70,000+ to open some eyes. We can't change the weather. We can't change Eugene. We can try to overcome them.
The distance we have come since I was in school is substantial to say the least. Have we just hit the roof? I'm thinking yes.
And what say you Seastrunk? Hmmmmmm, the winds of change are a blowin' and I'm guessing the Trojan double-wide will be upside down when it's over!!!!
