FB: American Rivers Conference

[Pakk]

How many Iowa conference teams put in a new field in the past 10 years?

[Spurrier]

i don't know, but. . .

How many licks does it take to get to the center of a toosie pop?

[dutchfan1]

Shoot -- Storm as in Simpson? Man, that's even worse!!  (Sorry, old habits die hard.) No wonder you have such a low opinion of our fans -- we've traded some pretty nasty insults over the years. Whoops. (By the way, let the "FTD" thing die -- you all stole it from William Penn.) 

[lorbec47]

Yeah, who has put in new fields? Loras' will be brand new this year. Wartburg, Simpson, and Central are on the list. Anyone else?

[Walston Hoover]

Pakk-Wartburg and Simpson put in new fields that are now being played on for the 5th season I believe. Loras this year and I think that's it. (Central next year) New Wellness facilities, thats a different story. Central started the trend probably now about 9-10 years ago. Luther followed closely behind. BV's is quite new, and Upper Iowa (RIP) has new facilities as well. I'm not sure about UD, spurrier could help me out there. Do they have new Wellness facilities?
Coe and Cornell could use some (unless there's been a change since I've last been there) and Wartburg will have probably starting within the year. I'm not sure how new Simpson's are. Other than a horribly boring atmosphere for games there, the facilities are pretty nice.

[Spurrier]

ud redid mccormick gym a decade ago and added a recreational center with athletic offices. . .it's nice. . .they filled in the indoor pool, ( which was the only one of its kind back in the day), to create a weightroom. . .it's nice. . .the stadium was redone several years ago and the natural grass field is excellent. . .ud is acutally morphing into a really nice small college. . .far from the pit i attended  way back when . . .eventhough our school was not very fancy back then, we won a lot of football games. . .

[The Show]

I always liked playing on the dirt lot in Cedar Rapids towards the end of October/early November! 

[Pakk]

Is Simpsons new field artificial or natural grass?  How about Loras' new one?  I know Wartburgs is, and Centrals' is going to be.

[dutchfan1]

Simpson put in a really cheap, imitation field turf -- it looks horrible. Doesn't it have soccer lines painted on it as well? Wartburg did it right.

Central's won't be in for a couple of years -- we are in the middle of fundraising efforts right now.

[Pakk]

My letter form Coach Schipper said the old field would be tore out after this season, leading me to believe the new field will be finised for next.

[dutchfan1]

Pakk, no kidding?? That's awesome. -- my friend in the alumni office didn't think it would be done by the '06 season.

[lorbec47]

Loras' field will feature the field turf. They will also have brand new bleachers and a new press box. Evidently, they're supposed to be getting a new scoreboard with the jumbo-tron sometime, we'll see.

[sportsknight]

Loras is also planning on letting their soccer teams play on the new field, so that field will have the soccer lines on it, just like Simpson does.

I'm also pretty sure that Loras is still in the fundraising stages for their new gym/wellness center.  They announced plans for the new place more than 2 years ago, so either they're having trouble getting the $$ together, or other things have taken presidence (football field, etc).  I think we all could agree that their gym is a cracker jack box, and needs to go sooner, opposed to later.

As far as other gyms/wellness centers go, Coe's has needed renovation for a while.  They've wanted to hold IIAC championships there the past couple years (volleyball especially), but haven't because the place isn't handicap-accessible.  Cornell's place doesn't seem that old, but it has gotten kind of dingy in recent years.  BV's Siebens Center is probably the nicest in the conference, with Luther a close second.

[Lance Harbor]

SK - You said it...if anything, Loras needs a new gym. 

It's kind of a unique setting, but it only holds 500 or so people.  Not nearly enough for good-sized crowds.

[warthog]

Please, someone tell me Loras isn't going to ruin a perfectly good football field by painting soccer lines on it   Even the biggest crowds at an IIAC soccer match don't have as many fans as Chalmers Field in Dubuque when the Spartans play Cornell in football.  I think Wartburg did the right thing by giving soccer its own field and bleachers to call home.  They even get crowds once in a while because they will do a soccer match on Saturday prior the a football game.