All Purpose Stadium Thread

[Max Power]

Not sure if this has been posted yet or not, but the Canisus's sports complex in Buffalo, NY. As you can see, they have a softball, baseball, soccer, lacrosse AND probably football field all on one turf.

That. Is awesome. And probably very sensible, financially. The softball players love the short porch in left and the baseball players love the short dimension to center.

[SJAnfield]

I'm surprised that Villanova would agree to have a game at PPL park, considering its location and their fan base. They must have gotten a sweet deal.

Also, no love for the multi-purpose Viking Hall / ECW Arena? Friday afternoons = bingo hall for the whole family, Friday nights = hardcore extreme rules barbed-wire death match. Doesn't get much more multi-purpose than that!

The "original" Big East wanted Villanova to move to PPL Park permanently and move up to FBS when it was still trying to save itself. They said no thanks.

[bosrs1]

Not really a sport oddity per se, but the San Diego Padres will be playing their final spring training series next month at University of San Diego's new 3500 seat Fowler Park.

[wonderbread]

Not sure if this has been posted yet or not, but the Canisus's sports complex in Buffalo, NY. As you can see, they have a softball, baseball, soccer, lacrosse AND probably football field all on one turf.

That. Is awesome. And probably very sensible, financially. The softball players love the short porch in left and the baseball players love the short dimension to center.

i feel they put up temporary barriers for soft ball, and baseball, those fields are way too big for what i assume to be high school, or maybe even a small college. It would be big for MLB even

[BBTV]

I'm surprised that Villanova would agree to have a game at PPL park, considering its location and their fan base. They must have gotten a sweet deal.

Also, no love for the multi-purpose Viking Hall / ECW Arena? Friday afternoons = bingo hall for the whole family, Friday nights = hardcore extreme rules barbed-wire death match. Doesn't get much more multi-purpose than that!

The "original" Big East wanted Villanova to move to PPL Park permanently and move up to FBS when it was still trying to save itself. They said no thanks.

Not entirely true. Villanova kept putting off their decision, and by the time they went to make it, the offer was off the table. Or at least that's what the president of the school told me at an alumni function in summer '12. He said he keeps getting asked if they're jumping but said they couldn't even if they wanted to (and I think that was before all the conference break-up stuff was happening). I don't recall PPL Park being part of it, but if so, that would have been a deal breaker. Alumni were overwhelmingly against the jump anyway though (again, just according to him) fearing that it'd take away resources from academics and wanting to remain a "basketball school". PPL doesn't make a lot of sense since it only buys them 6000 extra seats (though at least they are seats), but even then it's only 18,500, and I can't imagine they'd get a lot of support there. Franklin Field would be a better option, if they could coordinate it with Penn.

[RoughRiders99]

Not sure if this has been posted yet or not, but the Canisus's sports complex in Buffalo, NY. As you can see, they have a softball, baseball, soccer, lacrosse AND probably football field all on one turf.

That. Is awesome. And probably very sensible, financially. The softball players love the short porch in left and the baseball players love the short dimension to center.

i feel they put up temporary barriers for soft ball, and baseball, those fields are way too big for what i assume to be high school, or maybe even a small college. It would be big for MLB even

I'm 90% sure that they do put up temporary fences for softball and baseball.

[SJAnfield]

I'm surprised that Villanova would agree to have a game at PPL park, considering its location and their fan base. They must have gotten a sweet deal.

Also, no love for the multi-purpose Viking Hall / ECW Arena? Friday afternoons = bingo hall for the whole family, Friday nights = hardcore extreme rules barbed-wire death match. Doesn't get much more multi-purpose than that!

The "original" Big East wanted Villanova to move to PPL Park permanently and move up to FBS when it was still trying to save itself. They said no thanks.

Not entirely true. Villanova kept putting off their decision, and by the time they went to make it, the offer was off the table. Or at least that's what the president of the school told me at an alumni function in summer '12. He said he keeps getting asked if they're jumping but said they couldn't even if they wanted to (and I think that was before all the conference break-up stuff was happening). I don't recall PPL Park being part of it, but if so, that would have been a deal breaker. Alumni were overwhelmingly against the jump anyway though (again, just according to him) fearing that it'd take away resources from academics and wanting to remain a "basketball school". PPL doesn't make a lot of sense since it only buys them 6000 extra seats (though at least they are seats), but even then it's only 18,500, and I can't imagine they'd get a lot of support there. Franklin Field would be a better option, if they could coordinate it with Penn.

Thanks for the insight! During that time, realignment was such a nightmare, and hard to keep track of. PPL was part of the equation, but I believe the idea was that they would partner with Union to expand seating, nearly doubling capacity. I'm not sure where they would have put all the seats, or if it would be temporary or long term, but I'm sure they would have had to tear out the roofing and would have ruined much of that place's charm (looks great in pics anyway). I remember talking to a couple of Union supporters at a Quakes game during the height of speculation, and they were not happy. Apparently the Union supporters were very vocal about their opposition. I remember some Villanova folks (from online boards) weren't too happy about the proposal either, but I didn't realize the extent or background.

[BBTV]

I'm surprised that Villanova would agree to have a game at PPL park, considering its location and their fan base. They must have gotten a sweet deal.

Also, no love for the multi-purpose Viking Hall / ECW Arena? Friday afternoons = bingo hall for the whole family, Friday nights = hardcore extreme rules barbed-wire death match. Doesn't get much more multi-purpose than that!

The "original" Big East wanted Villanova to move to PPL Park permanently and move up to FBS when it was still trying to save itself. They said no thanks.

Not entirely true. Villanova kept putting off their decision, and by the time they went to make it, the offer was off the table. Or at least that's what the president of the school told me at an alumni function in summer '12. He said he keeps getting asked if they're jumping but said they couldn't even if they wanted to (and I think that was before all the conference break-up stuff was happening). I don't recall PPL Park being part of it, but if so, that would have been a deal breaker. Alumni were overwhelmingly against the jump anyway though (again, just according to him) fearing that it'd take away resources from academics and wanting to remain a "basketball school". PPL doesn't make a lot of sense since it only buys them 6000 extra seats (though at least they are seats), but even then it's only 18,500, and I can't imagine they'd get a lot of support there. Franklin Field would be a better option, if they could coordinate it with Penn.

Thanks for the insight! During that time, realignment was such a nightmare, and hard to keep track of. PPL was part of the equation, but I believe the idea was that they would partner with Union to expand seating, nearly doubling capacity. I'm not sure where they would have put all the seats, or if it would be temporary or long term, but I'm sure they would have had to tear out the roofing and would have ruined much of that place's charm (looks great in pics anyway). I remember talking to a couple of Union supporters at a Quakes game during the height of speculation, and they were not happy. Apparently the Union supporters were very vocal about their opposition. I remember some Villanova folks (from online boards) weren't too happy about the proposal either, but I didn't realize the extent or background.

I just looked it up, and PPL was built with expansion in mind, so that could very well have been the plan. I think they can take it to over 30,000. It's in an absoultey horrible location (not just physical location, but crime / safety wise) and is serviced by (I think) a single regional rail line, which would require students to take one rail line in to the City, and then a second one out to the stadium, and then a bus from the rail station to the stadium. A nightmare, considering you have to make the return trip. No student in their right mind would drive all the way down to where the stadium is and "party" before the game. It would have the worst atmosphere in D1.

I'm not sure what the Union fans think of the stadium or its location, but many regular folk feel that it only got built there due to politics and the governer getting his pockets lined, plus special zoning, etc., as part of a "revitalization" that will simply not happen. I can't imagine too many worse locations. They should have tried (and maybe they did, I have no idea) to work with Villanova from the get go, and build a dual-purpose stadium near campus (or re-do Villanova stadium). I think that would have been best for everyone, including the Union fanbase, which I would assume has a large percentage of members who would be in the western suburbs.

[teddthebucfan]

Not sure if this has been posted yet or not, but the Canisus's sports complex in Buffalo, NY. As you can see, they have a softball, baseball, soccer, lacrosse AND probably football field all on one turf.

That. Is awesome. And probably very sensible, financially. The softball players love the short porch in left and the baseball players love the short dimension to center.

I'm gonna have to disagree with you there. It might be great for softball, soccer, lacrosse, etc. But look at that Baseball setup. I can't really tell but it appears that it's shorter to Center than it is to the poles.

[TheoW]

How do we know that they don't put up temporary walls for baseball/softball, to make the field more normal?

[SJAnfield]

How do we know that they don't put up temporary walls for baseball/softball, to make the field more normal?

They do. Portable fence is placed and creates a normal outfield for baseball and softball. Not sure how to post an image on iPhone, but below link shows the fence in place for softball. There are a few more schools that do the same thing. I believe Seton Hall, Marquette and Long Island use similar setups.

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/__DaC0EDGREA/TKjGtJXXy2I/AAAAAAAACyI/ZNX8fRoLM8I/s1600/Chloe+Contreras+2010.jpg

[teddthebucfan]

How do we know that they don't put up temporary walls for baseball/softball, to make the field more normal?

I realized as much, but here's the thing: Take a look at where the paint for the foul lines end. That's more than likely where the fences go. Now take a look at the distance to center compared to the length of the foul lines.

[FiddySicks]

How hilarious would it be if they didn't throw up temporary fences? It'd be a reverse Polo Grounds!

[cmm]

These are the approximate dimensions I got with Google Earth's ruler tool

[mad43dog]

These are the approximate dimensions I got with Google Earth's ruler tool

Bordentown High School does something similar. Imagine those dimensions

[Jungle Jim]

Osaka Stadium:

[wonderbread]

Osaka Stadium:

that is just comical

[Old School Fool]

Osaka Stadium:

Apparently there weren't any real residents as it was just a showroom for housing.

[BBTV]

http://www.thisblogrules.com/2009/12/12-worlds-weirdest-stadiums.html

[collegefootballgeek]

Lets not forget about Jeld-Wen Field in Portland as one of those MLS stadiums hosting college football