Nashville is pretty close to the mean population point of the US. It’s nice to see a new location and seems fair to rotate between different regions, if nothing else so that choose-your-Dakota fans get to see different parts of the country. Throwing Vegas and Orlando into rotation might drive some attendance.

So, I took some time to look at who Sac12 committed really is. Several state lawmakers (from both parties). Mostly freshmen who don’t appear to be they influential statewide. But any PR is good PR, right? A couple of construction related unions who are previously affiliated with above politicians. Seems plausible they have been promised something regarding new facility construction. A couple big property companies. (Fulcrum Properties is deep in with UC Davis Foundation also). Patterson Properties is a general contractor (what have they been promised?). Wilton Rancheria is a tribe seeking a bigger casino footprint. They also own the controlling interest in Sac Republic soccer team who also wants a new 25,000 seat stadium (proposed for the Railyards complex). Chairman Josh Wood, name sound familiar? It’s president Luke Wood’s brother. Josh owns multiple companies including a “consulting” business where he claims he put together the whole Golden 1 Center deal and a sports venue management company. To what extent he is responsible for Golden 1, I can’t say, but the more you read about him the more you realize he specializes in two things - spending other people’s money and relentless self-promotion.

It ain’t hard to start connecting dots that this is probably about getting Sac State to help pay for the new MLS stadium, and to sweet talk some politicians into more Indian casinos and maybe a sports betting deal - for which the PAC12 brand is important. Pack the pork barrel with some preselected contractors and then hire a company owned by the president’s brother to run the venue, or maybe even to own the venue and lease it back to CSUS at a markup. In fact this could be why there are no details on the stadium if the project is really meant to be a “public-private” deal where the campus is like an investor/tenant leasing the land to a developer and then leasing back use of the venue. This is speculation perhaps but I don’t think this whole thing is really about the Hornets so much as private business interests trying to obscure behind a benevolent looking front. In fact, even if it goes nowhere I bet the effort still helps the tribe get its casino and Josh probably still gets consultant fees.

hindsight, the athletic performance center might have actually been the first clue. But I think some stadium upgrades if not expansion could still start churning with at least some plausible deniability that they are needed regardless of division.

I think Idaho fans are still working though collective feelings that dropping from FBS to FCS they did not immediately dominate FCS. Unfortunate to lose their turnaround guy just as they were rounding the corner.

yes, which led to 40 years of speculation as to what could have been.

fair I suppose. I have no ill feelings against the Cats or Yotes. I want somebody to thump the house pick of Directional Dakota State in the final because they are both kind of obnoxious and it’s time for the trophy to go somewhere else.

The Yotes are gentlemen. But I will be rooting for Montana State to boat race them next week. We already know at our best that the Cats are only 2 points and 1 second better than us. We had our worst game and the Yotes had their best game of the year tonight and that’s how it goes sometimes.

I think the rule stinks that defense can take all the time in the world to substitute with the clock and play clock running and the ref preventing a snap.

The football gods just slapped the ref for a clearly wrong PI call on the previous play lol

A sloppy throw leads to 7 for them, a face mask keeps a touchdown drive going for us. So far looks like it will be won or lost on mistakes.

easier to gamble with house money

So far there have been no upsets these playoffs, meaning the committee has had it “right” until now. If there is any last minute motivation needed, a win today would sort of be like beating Sac State again, since their AD is our rep on the committee.

I think the Cats will have plenty of talent next year and a lot of guys with game reps. Any player that requires double coverage means someone is uncovered. Any FCS team that goes deep in the playoffs does run the risk of the coaching staff being purchased by a bigger fish or now potentially individual players. That risk may be low but is nonzero. Some of UM’s strengths include running their mouths and homecooking with Big Sky refs and the FCS committee, which isn’t what I’d want to hang my hat on. But it makes for compatible roommates with EWU and Sac State.

Montana State is very good all around. The part I don’t understand why they talk about “Tommy” like the second coming. He is a good quarterback who can scramble but not really a prolific passer. Which maybe I’m biased to the historical west coast style of aerial domination equaling excellence. What I see more is that literally everyone he can give the ball to is good, the guys up front give him as much time as he wants, and because nobody really challenged them in the first half of the season, pretty much all positions 2 or 3 deep are experienced with game reps. I think excellence on the part of the nameless guys is making him look great but the Montana media really wants it to be all about him. Which maybe doesn’t matter as long as they keep winning. And certainly what Idaho illustrated is you cannot give Montana State a short field over and over again.

it’s been a minute since I’ve been to town but it always felt like there was a shortage of simple American-fare places. But I live in Florida now so I wouldn’t be a regular patron.

that was a tough spot 20 years ago even with the cross traffic between Segundo DC and the ARC plus Orchard Road overpass being a primary bike route to West Davis. I’m sure it has only gotten more busy with West Village filling in. It’s unfortunate the LaRue bike underpass 100’ north isn’t quite lined up with where the traffic wants to go, it was always underutilized. That parking lot has ended up landlocked as things have encroached from all sides.

there’s a needle to thread to be fun enough to want to watch a game there (or go before/after a home game) but clean enough you can take your parents there for lunch the next day. I’ve built restaurants but never run one. I’ve seen enough episodes of Kitchen Nightmares and Bar Rescue to know it is easy to swim out too deep with life savings in hand though. I think there’s market potential but would need a solid business plan and due diligence to find its niche.

the parking lineup to pay the toll or the actual ticket checking to get into the arena?

structured parking can easily cost $20k or more per space to build, so it is expensive but regardless of anything athletics-related, probably something the campus will have to build more of as it grows and builds over surface lots. That said, I hope any future garages use speed ramps. This is how Disney and Universal do theirs with flat parking decks and a separate ramp system. The West Entry garage is a mess after events at UCU or stadium let out because people parked on the ramp have to back into stopped traffic.

With any expansion of seats, increased parking has to be a consideration. I know the Davis Delusion… people will ride to town on busses powered by hope and recaptured burrito farts. The reality is people are going to drive and many wish to tailgate. Which tailgating doesn’t have to be at a car. At my local university all of the parking is in garages but reserved parking comes with a reserved plot on an adjacent IM field and it works. Actually quite well to keep the moving cars and the party separate. The other reality is occasional Friday or even Thursday night games are not out of the question. The universities I’ve been to cancel classes at noon and suspend normal weekday parking permit enforcement in this circumstance because there is not enough parking to support weekday operations plus 1000s of vehicles for a game. That eventuality would be an emotional bridge to cross for some professor types.