LSAClassOf2000

August 14th, 2015 at 11:51 AM ^

At least as far as I remember (for it has been many years since I read anything Wayside School-related), "Louis The Yard Teacher" is a reference to Louis Sachar's time helping out in a Berkeley, CA elementary school as that is what the kids in the class would call him when he helped supervise recess. 

Joined: 01/07/2011

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Space Coyote

August 14th, 2015 at 1:12 PM ^

The 2nd one was written in the 80s.

I was awfully familiar with the Louis Sachar books of that time. That was the author my teachers and parents finally convinced me to read when they determined "he really needs to read some books that aren't non-fiction; I appreciate that he wants to learn about animals, dinosaurs, space, and "How Stuff Works", but he really needs to learn to read fiction."

So Wayside School it was.

Joined: 06/18/2009

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Evil Empire

August 14th, 2015 at 11:31 AM ^

It's spot on.  The school's previous 30k-seat stadium was taken apart and moved to the current location in 1960, adding seats to make capacity 46,284.  There have been seven subsequent expansions and one reduction of 710 seats to make the place ADA compliant. 

Joined: 07/29/2008

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NittanyFan

August 14th, 2015 at 1:17 PM ^

Beaver Stadium has frankly never been an aesthetically great place, but at least prior to 2001 from inside the stadium one could see a portion of the campus and neighboring Mt. Nittany and Tussey Mountain.  It was a fairly picturesque scene.

Then they put the upper deck on the south end zone (an upper deck was put on the north end zone in 1990, before my time).  Blocked that out entirely.

If it was up to me, we'd start a new stadium from scratch.  I'll just fund that entire $1,000,000,000 bill on my own --- no problem there.  :-)

Joined: 12/04/2012

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DrMantisToboggan

August 14th, 2015 at 11:33 AM ^

Yeah this is super easy to believe if you have ever been to or seen the place, it looks like someone made a stdaium with a set of giant Kinex. Looks like the just took all the junk metal from abandoned coal mines and welded it together until you could sit in it.  

Joined: 11/26/2014

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Wolverine Devotee

August 14th, 2015 at 11:40 AM ^

I haven't been there but I have never experienced a concourse quite like our wind tunnels that feel as cold as a cave in Alaska but with 30 mph winds in November or in the spring.

They definitely needed to renovate and add more concession stands back during the 2007 renovation. Unfortunately for me, a guy who adored the stadium's classic bowl look, they went to infinity and beyond with their renovation plan.

Joined: 06/29/2009

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Space Coyote

August 14th, 2015 at 11:34 AM ^

A renovation, even a significant one, would cost probably at most $350 million. If TPC Stadium cost $300 Million to construct, a stadium nearly double the size would probably cost upwards to $450 to $500 million (land would be more easily accessed at PSU, but I have to think that the cost with going bigger isn't necessarily linear).

Joined: 06/18/2009

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WolvinLA2

August 14th, 2015 at 11:43 AM ^

That's a big golf stadium.  Did you mean TCF?  

It all depends on how big the renovation really is.  Our renovation only (only) cost about $250 mil, right?  But I don't know how much more involved theirs would be.  It's also possible that being in the middle of BFE affects the price compared to Minneapolis more than you think.  I don't know, I'm just thinking.

Joined: 11/13/2009

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gwkrlghl

August 14th, 2015 at 12:53 PM ^

you can only repair and fix up a clunker for so long till you have to replace it. Penn State is a rich school with rich alums. They can raise the money if they need to.

Another thing to consider is that major renovations often end up being a significant percent of the price of a new stadium. I think they'll take a serious look at what gets them the most bang for their buck. It's going to have to be replaced eventually. Why not now?

Joined: 04/13/2012

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bluebyyou

August 14th, 2015 at 1:13 PM ^

For a huge school, they aren't so rich.  Our endowment is close to 10 B, there's is close to 3 B, but Michigan does well for a public university.

While their stadium rocks with Penn State fans, when things are going well, it looks like an old stadium that has had sections added over the years, which is, of course, what happened. It just seems like a bunch of pieces that were cheaply thrown together. Michigan Stadium after the renovation (and before), in part to it being a bowl, looks finished.

I think the renovation really made the crown jewel that we have sparkle.

Joined: 09/07/2009

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WolvinLA2

August 14th, 2015 at 2:26 PM ^

In terms of football schools - they're quite rich.  Comparing them to us to say they aren't rich is like comparing Mark Curban to Warren Buffett and saying he's not rich.  Michigan, in terms of public universities (or really any non-Ivy League school) is extremely wealthy.  

The endowment that PSU has is larger than any football school outside a select few (Michigan, ND, Texas, USC, UVa) and handful of others that are within 10% or so.  PSU's is $3.4 Billion, and the highest non-Vandy SEC school is Florida at $1.5B. Alabama's system-wide endowment is $1,2B.  

I'm not sure this is even applicable to football, but you brought it up.  Saying that PSU isn't a rich school is just false.  In terms of overall financials and AD financials, PSU is in the top 5-10 nationally. 

Joined: 11/13/2009

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Muttley

August 14th, 2015 at 2:41 PM ^

an 850 vs 820 credit score.

The question is how much can PSU finance on a football stadium reasonably?  

If the financing is done solely against the cash flows generated by football (who wants to blow the endowment on football intentionally?), then the size of the endowments are irrelevant.  I'm guessing, however, that Michigan and PSU would guarantee the debt with the university as a whole to secure a lower interest rate.

Still, the deal needs to make sense on the projected cash flows first, and the assets of the endowment would only backstop the financing in a very unusual event.  Using the credit score analogy, 850 vs 820 isn't going to make much of a difference.  The annual revenue generated by each football program would be by far the most important determinant.

Joined: 07/07/2009

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trueblueintexas

August 14th, 2015 at 12:01 PM ^

I have not seen it in person (only pictures and on TV) but I think their stadium is unique and part of who they are. It is old, antiquated, and an eye-sore but it has been that way long enough,  why change it now?

I have always liked the fact you can see all of the lights at night from the outside. Looks like an oil rig. 

Joined: 11/10/2008

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SF Wolverine

August 14th, 2015 at 12:20 PM ^

Crisler built the Big House to seat a ton of people to start, and with the foundation to be expanded.  That place looks like the vacation house that gets added to in bits and pieces over the years with no overarching plan.  And, sounds like there are real "foundational" issues that they should think about.  Probably cost $300-400MM to fully fix that dump; you could have a brandspanking new one for not a whole lot more than that, I would guess.  And, not have 4-7 years of a stadium under renovation.

Not like history is losing any great edifice if you blow that place up.

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