Heating Coils under the Field

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GOFUR said:
Along the same line, sounds like Barnard and Sansavere (KQRS) were pimping for the Vikings to work out a deal with the U to share the stadium on a permanent basis. As part of the deal they suggested Wilf should pony up for the additional seats and heated coils.

This thought makes me sick to my stomach.

I am getting way ahead of myself but I can just see it now. In a last ditch effort to save the Vikings from leaving, TCF is looked upon as the Vikings last chance. The U either buckles to public pressure and we lose our own home or the U says no and then the U will be the bad guys. No win situation for the U. It is hard to imagine trying to transform a complete Gopher, Maroon & Gold stadium into a Viking shared stadium. Like I said, the thought makes me want to puke.
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Will not happen. The Vikings can't monetize every element of TCF b/c it is owned by the U. That's the whole point of a new stadium. To make more money. So stop getting ahead of yourself. :)
stevedave23 said:
I believe representatives from the U have stated publicly several times that they would be open to sharing the stadium with the vikings on a temporary basis. If a permanent situation were proposed, unfortunatley I don't think the U would turn the Vikings down.
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I think the U would turn them down in a heartbeat. The U came out several years ago (the last time the idea was proposed) and said that a shared on campus stadium wouldn't work b/c of the incompatible missions of the 2 organizations. I think you're right otherwise, Wilf will move the team before he shares a stadium.
Maximus said:
People need to stop with the whole TCF becoming a permanent home for the Vikings. Expanding to 80,000 seats sure, but there are less than 40 suites in TCF with no designs that Ive seen that would expand that number. And even if there were, would they compete with 300 suites in Dallas? Houston's 177 suites? Green Bay's 166 suites? Detroit's 132 suites?
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This +1000
 

GoAUpher said:
Will not happen. The Vikings can't monetize every element of TCF b/c it is owned by the U. That's the whole point of a new stadium. To make more money. So stop getting ahead of yourself. :)

I think the U would turn them down in a heartbeat. The U came out several years ago (the last time the idea was proposed) and said that a shared on campus stadium wouldn't work b/c of the incompatible missions of the 2 organizations. I think you're right otherwise, Wilf will move the team before he shares a stadium.

This +1000
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Thank you, your logic brings solace to my irrational downtrodden Gopher heart.
 

It'll help that the temps aren't supposed to fall below zero anytime before Monday night, as that is part of the issue. It snowed all that 15-20", and then immediately went below zero for two days. That's a bad combo. Any chemicals or things they use to get rid of the ice will be much more effective now than it would have last Sunday and Monday. There is rarely sub zero temps before December, so that was an expense probably not worthwhile in their opinions. Personally, being in Minnesota, I would have probably had that aspect taken care of, but this is one of the coldest November into Decembers I can remember and it wasn't an issue this year, so I have no complaints.

Regarding building the stadium to accommodate any time the Vikings would want to use it, that's questionable IMO. But even so, there's a difference between basically closing up shop for the year and then trying to bring it back up in a week, then having it planned all along and being able to take their time in preparing the field for use for weeks ahead of time. They could have covered the field (which I'm not sure why they don't do that anyway) laid down anything needed to keep the ice off, and then unveil it for game days or something like that..

And yeah, there is zero percent chance the VIkings share this stadium with the Gophers permanently, will not happen.
 

Maximus said:
People need to stop with the whole TCF becoming a permanent home for the Vikings. Expanding to 80,000 seats sure, but there are less than 40 suites in TCF with no designs that Ive seen that would expand that number. And even if there were, would they compete with 300 suites in Dallas? Houston's 177 suites? Green Bay's 166 suites? Detroit's 132 suites?
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It would be more profitable for the Vikings to stay at the dome than move to TCF. It seems like that 'profitable thing' is somewhat important.
 

Maximus said:
People need to stop with the whole TCF becoming a permanent home for the Vikings. Expanding to 80,000 seats sure, but there are less than 40 suites in TCF with no designs that Ive seen that would expand that number. And even if there were, would they compete with 300 suites in Dallas? Houston's 177 suites? Green Bay's 166 suites? Detroit's 132 suites?
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Actually, one of the potential expansion plans is to just add another box of suites on the away side and enclose the stadium similar to Lambeau Field. This all depends on what kind of demand is seen YEARS down the road.

The whole point of being "expandable" is that all of the infrastructure is in place so construction can start and finish in the offseason. Is the U going to add another box of suites? Probably not. Is it an option? Yes. Is there the possibility of adding 30,000 seats? Yes. Is that more likely? Yes. The point is that, no matter what is being built, it saves the U a lot of money in construction costs when it happens.
 


Having a slippery field is part of the game. That is why football is played outdoors in the elements
 

Gopherdrummer said:
Actually, one of the potential expansion plans is to just add another box of suites on the away side and enclose the stadium similar to Lambeau Field. This all depends on what kind of demand is seen YEARS down the road.
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I have NEVER heard of any plans to enclose the stadium. In fact, I'm pretty sure it was designed so that wasn't an option. Any expansion plans would be to add a 3rd deck on top of the upper concourse.
 

I thought field turf was supposed to be all-weather? Who the hell ever played on a heated field, anyway? What a bunch of pussies. Look at Bethel/St Thomas a few weeks ago. UMN and Hyphenated Missouri State last. Again, what a bunch of pussies.
 

DarrenTheGreek said:
I have NEVER heard of any plans to enclose the stadium. In fact, I'm pretty sure it was designed so that wasn't an option. Any expansion plans would be to add a 3rd deck on top of the upper concourse.
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Sorry, let me rephrase: Another deck of suites could be added so there is either A. twin boxes similar to the big house, or B. a continuation of the current box that would wrap around the grandstand. Similar to Lambeau (which has an "open end" in terms of suites). The horseshoe would remain the way it is. You would just have a lot of premium seating and a very vertical stadium.

This is a very unlikely option, but it is possible simply because all of the infrastructure (heating ducts, wiring, plumbing etc.) is in place. Because it is so unlikely, the U hasn't really advertised this option. But it's still an option nonetheless.

I apologize for the miscommunication.
 



Gopherdrummer said:
Sorry, let me rephrase: Another deck of suites could be added so there is either A. twin boxes similar to the big house, or B. a continuation of the current box that would wrap around the grandstand. Similar to Lambeau (which has an "open end" in terms of suites). The horseshoe would remain the way it is. You would just have a lot of premium seating and a very vertical stadium.

This is a very unlikely option, but it is possible simply because all of the infrastructure (heating ducts, wiring, plumbing etc.) is in place. Because it is so unlikely, the U hasn't really advertised this option. But it's still an option nonetheless.

I apologize for the miscommunication.
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NP. I get what you are saying now. I've never head of that option either but I do find it interesting. I would imagine if the Gophers ever became "the draw" in town that they'd want to increase the number of suites and premium seating in some way/shape/form.
 

PA is full of *&^!#*&^!#*&^!#*&^!#. I cared about the Vikings at one point for a very long time but Pro ball is now a joke and on the cusp of being like the WWF. The whole money, contract, phony hall of fame inductees has ruined the league. NFL rosters change about 30% every year with the exception of just a few teams. Hardly what it used to be when I enjoyed it. Its a TV sport and now only watch when it gets cold out. Guys like PA are just part of the phony crap the NFL really is. I might be the only one but I think playing at Target center with arena rules would have been a better option than playing in our stadium. Could have gone to Detroit too. Our stadium is for Golden Gopher football only in my opinion.
 

gopherjay said:
I cared about the Vikings at one point for a very long time but Pro ball is now a joke and on the cusp of being like the WWF. The whole money, contract, phony hall of fame inductees has ruined the league. NFL rosters change about 30% every year with the exception of just a few teams. Hardly what it used to be when I enjoyed it.
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Amen.

The dirty little secret is that Fantasy Football keeps regular season pro football games relevant for viewers. If you don't care for Fantasy Football most NFL games are over-hyped, under whelming spectacles.
 

year of the gopher said:
Why would the U of M spend money on heating coils when they weren't believed necessary for the college game?

Oh, and I can only think of a couple of plays in the Iowa game when guys slipped. It's not like it happened every play or prevented teams from having a passing game.
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Agree!

I called that Home Field Advantage! It seemed to be more of a problem for Iowa's RB than our entire team.

Moving along, Why would we put in coils for the Vikings without them covering the cost when they had their chance at "sharing" a stadium, and didn't want to give a thing to the Gophers. IIRC they wanted revenue for everything stadium related every day except Gopher game days.
 



And people slip in every game, in every stadium, all season long. You can't say "Aha! A player slipped, therefore it was too cold!"
 

The real reason the U didn't install heating coils is due to global warming. Due to being a progressive university they know that in 5 years it will be no colder then 32 degrees in the winter months so why spend the money. They have better ways to spend the money like fixing leaking roofs and bringing elevators up to code. Right?? HA
 

Heard yesterday that Buffalo and the new Meadowlands stadium are both heatless in the field. Does seem to be a problem for these two places. Granted the field at Meadowlands is removable so that allow probably makes it unecessary. However, Buffalo gets more snow than anywhere else and they seem to make it work. The field will be just fine by the time Monday comes and all the whiners will look like idiots.
 

Expensive... maybe not uber expensive, but be a lot of money for them just to have thrown it in there for a once every couple year usage.

The heating coil in our collection had been installed six inches under Green Bay’s Lambeau Field in 1967 and was used by the team until the 1996 NFL season. It was part of intricate heating system that was designed to prevent Lambeau Field from freezing during cold weather. Packers head coach Vince Lombardi was instrumental in bringing the system to Green Bay. The first ground heating system was installed at the Air Force Academy’s home football field in Colorado Springs, CO. The Academy used the system to help grass grow in the high altitude. Lombardi’s idea was to keep Lambeau Field from freezing during the cold months of November and December. The cost of the heating system was nearly one million dollars ($969,000 to be exact). Today’s equivalent would be $6 million.​
 

evegoe said:
Expensive... maybe not uber expensive, but be a lot of money for them just to have thrown it in there for a once every couple year usage.

The heating coil in our collection had been installed six inches under Green Bay’s Lambeau Field in 1967 and was used by the team until the 1996 NFL season. It was part of intricate heating system that was designed to prevent Lambeau Field from freezing during cold weather. Packers head coach Vince Lombardi was instrumental in bringing the system to Green Bay. The first ground heating system was installed at the Air Force Academy’s home football field in Colorado Springs, CO. The Academy used the system to help grass grow in the high altitude. Lombardi’s idea was to keep Lambeau Field from freezing during the cold months of November and December. The cost of the heating system was nearly one million dollars ($969,000 to be exact). Today’s equivalent would be $6 million.​
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What year was the article you took this from written? Just trying see what "today's dollars" mean.
 


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