Did anyone notice...

[JoeB]

Gimme a break.  I agree with Smazza too about this.  We're lucky to have such a great facility.  Without it, I doubt we'd get half the recruits to come to USF.  Who cares if there aren't any USF banners around the stadium.  As long as USF wins each week there, who really cares??

[D1DDY]

ray jay is a great stadium and usf is lucky ot play in such a fine facility

usf needs to worry about beating uconn than getting a stadium

no one will back  a stadium of usf can't field a top 25 team year in and year out

this issue is 5 years away from a serious discussion  at the least

100% right on!  NFL Stadium aren't built around who or what else happens there.  It would really feel like a county fair if they had a monster truck in the south end zone for the super bowl of monster trucks, A bull in the corner for USF, a big bloomin onion for the outback bowl, and a pirate ship in the north end zone, oh wait thats already there!  LOL

[Brad]

BTW  Doug is talking with the Glazers to work out a new deal for the stadium since our deal is up that would give us more profits then before.

Funny...Doug knows who to deal with...others more foolish might have thought that the Tampa Sports Authority might be the negotiating party.  At least Doug realized the TSA is nothing but a front for the Glazers.

modified to correct typo

[BigShoop]

Wow.

I cant believe that now people are actually degrading the CITS. Wow.

One of, if not THE premier football stadium in the country.

: : : : : :

[Joe]

What makes it primier? The Pirate ship? The club suites? What matters is the turf, which is usually very well kept considering there are so many games there.

I can name about 20 stadiums I would take over RJS, its like comparing Comerica or Minute Maid Park to Wrigley or Fenway. Give me something simple where fans can really experience a game.

[BigShoop]

Simple or historic?

The Big Sombrero was old. Not historic.

Big difference.

I just dont see HOW anyone can complain about USF playing games at the CITS...

[BigShoop]

Note: I was in Charlotte, and their stadium sucked. It reminded me of the old Tampa Stadium.

Boring and stale.

And the scoreboards were straight out of 1988.

[BullDoug]

Note: I was in Charlotte, and their stadium sucked. It reminded me of the old Tampa Stadium.

Boring and stale.

And the scoreboards were straight out of 1988.

Put the RJS video boards in the Charlotte stadium and yank out the smoking lounges and thats a good stadium.

[Mr._2_cents]

Ask the players which stadium they like, 90% would say the new RJS. Thats why most of them came here, to play in a pro stadium. I enjoy the stadium nice atomsphere, hope they stay there for a long while.

[Guest]

Raymond James is a great place to watch a football game.

Yes, the Pirate Ship is a bit corny ... but during a Bucs game, the firing canons when the Bucs reach the red zone and again after every score is entertaining.

The Glazers wanted a smaller stadium (65,000) seats that could be expanded if/when Tampa hosts a Super Bowl.  They paid for the Ship and for the Buccaneer Cove facade -- not the taxpayers.

The open ends make the stadium quieter -- one reason the 5,000 USF fans sounded loud in Charlotte was because it is completely enclosed -- but the open ends also provide a breeze on hot Sunday afternoons.

If -- or should I say WHEN -- USF starts playing more afternoon games, you will be thankful for the open ends.

Finally, we have to realize that USF needs all kinds of fans to really survive.  Sure, we would all love to see 45 - 50,000 rabid fans like those on TBP at every home game... but we're no where near that.  I'll take the casual fans who actually come to the game, even if they sit in the club area the whole time.  I'll take 10,000 students at a game, even if 1/3 of them are socializing in the endzone instead of watching the game.  I'll take people who mill around when we're beating McNees State by 50 instead of getting in their cars and leaving.

Of course, these are just my opinions.