quote:

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Cravens Field. Arlington Lamar.

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Lamar's football team may play very well there, but Cravens is a piece of crap.

Coppell's football team may suck, but at least they have too much money.
http://www.coppellcowboys.com

Somebody gave me this link awhile back...

http://forum.dallasmetropolis.com/showthread.php?t=1136

A few here who say they have seen Cy-Fairs stadium are referring to the Berry Center, but I think most of you are remembering Pridgeon Stadium. The Berry Center will host its very first football games this coming year, and was just completed May of '06.

It is by far the nicest stadium in Texas, and I cannot imagine a nicer facility for a high school in the United States. What could you do to make it better? You have to see it in person to understand the actual size, and detail put into the place. The attached basketball arena has two decks and seats 9,500.

There really aren't any pictures online yet that do it justice, but here is a glimpse.

I've seen the Barry center. I think its a joke to put it in this argument because NOTHING about that place says Hs football to me...

I took the heading to mean "nicest" stadiums when it said best. However I am not trying to say it has the best atmosphere or high school feel.

It is however the nicest...

We could open up a whole other can of worms if we begin discussing whether or not Cy-Fair should have spent a huge chunk of that $470.5 million bond on their new complex.

[This message has been edited by Cypress Ag (edited 7/9/2006 11:12p).]

my hs stadium wasn't too bad




[This message has been edited by aggie_wes (edited 7/8/2006 12:15p).]

WISD stadium.

BTW - what happened to Temple football? They were good back in the day, now they sux suck.

Thanks for the pics of Wildcat Stadium, I am a former Wildcat who has been living out of TX since '83. Great memories thanks for sharing the pics.

try MOJO land in Odessa Texas Permian High and Odessa High stadium

that cy-fair stuff makes me throw up.

you mean Ratliff??? That is really what started the big stadium craze isnt it???

I graduated from Cy-Fair, and I think its ridiculous how much they are spending on that thing. I'm sure my parents are glad they moved to Midland and dont have to worry about paying for that stadium...Oh wait......

I'll vote for my alma mater, El Paso High school...granted, our team stinks, and it might not be a traditional looking stadium, but it's gotta be one of the best looking ones, IMHO. Lemme know what y'all think.

http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgenweb/tx/elpaso/postcards/ephs.jpg

I can't find an actual picture online, but this is really what it looks like

Ratliff is right it has artificial turf. It was after my time we were at shotwell I believe. I have been told Midland High is th new powerhouse. Oh the Groesbeck stadium was built by natural gas values before the shut down gibbons in grimes county

"The Ring" in SE Texas is a nice venue. I ref'ed a high school soccer playoff game between Kingwood and Alvin (I believe). It has that rubberized carpet similar to Nebraska's field.

"It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in man," Psalm 118:8.

Abe Martin.



They have valet parking available for $50 per season. Best $50 I ever spent.

Kramer: "Well I must say, this all sounds capricious and arbitrary."

Dean Jones: "Your fly is undone."

Played my HS football at Prigdeon (Got to play at Tully, Katy Memorial, Thorne, Klein, Tomball, Magnolia, Bryan, Kyle Field, Texas Stadium, Moorehead Stadium, Spring, Delmar and a couple of others that I can't remember)

Prigdeon was our "home" field and I always liked it because of the atmosphere. You always seemed like you were playing in a bigger stadium because of the two-deck design compared to the Tully and Thorne.

I went to the Berry Center open house and believe me it is very nice. The press box amenities are very nice and offer unobstructed views. The reserved seating offers individual seats with cup holders. The handicap access is also very generous. The scoreboard or should I say video board is very nice and is sharper than the old Kyle Field scoreboard and just a little bit smaller. The field is the new style artificial turf with loose rubber pieces mixed in to make it softer and prevent slipping or grabbing (not an ankle breaker like the old artificial turf) The Arena is also very nice and is by far the best HS basketball arena I have been in. By the way the Berry center also has offices for the District Athletic Dept. Convention space and meeting rooms and an auditorium for drama, music, and speech. The place overall is probably the best HS facility of it’s kind in Houston if not the state. I am definitely looking forward to watching HS games there this fall.

The facility maybe a bit over the top but the district desperately needed another stadium with HS number 8 (Cy Woods) opening this year and two more opening by the fall of 2008 (Cypress Lakes and Cypress Ranch) The arena has been needed since Langham Creek HS opened back in the mid 80's. Now Cy Fair ISD won't have to rent other facilities for graduation or other large events and can host any kind of event and make money off of hosting those events. In fact at the open house they were passing out freebies promoting the Berry Center for events. It also stands a good chance of being a regular playoff site (more money) given it's location and that in two years Cy Fair will be it's own Athletic District, which will guarantee playoff games. Some of you are off on the funding. The Berry Center was paid for by Bonds that were approved by the voters. This has been the way Cy Fair has funded new facilities and pretty much the only viable way given the way Cy Fair has grown (Cy Fair ISD is the 4th largest school dist. in the state and will have 90,000+ students this fall which is almost 6,000 more than last year) The 2001 Bond election, which funded the stadium, was for a total of 470 million (see http://www.cfisd.net/bond/bond_refa.htm) Most of which went to building new schools. Approximately 70 million paid for the stadium and arena. The arena was the more expensive of the two. The stadium was only about 28 million. Cy Fair has been pretty good about facility building. In fact, they saved so much money from the 2001 bond election through the aggressive management of the building contracts that they were able to build two more elementary schools.


“Preach the gospel at all times. If necessary use words!” St Francis of Assisi

In the Dallas area, Wildcat-Ram Stadium at Lake Highlands h.s. is a classic place to watch a game. Also, Highander Stadium at Highland Park offers a great place to watch a game under the Friday night lights.

You guys complaining about Cy-Fair spending all that money on a football stadium really don't understand the situation there.

As a previous poster pointed out, Cy-Fair is HUGE and growing at a ridiculously fast rate. The info that I saw listed it as the THIRD largest ISD in the state after Houston and Dallas with almost 90,000 students. They are adding THREE NEW 5A high schools in three years--think about that!

Also, it's not just football. As was said, that complex is also for basketball, fine arts, graduations, conferences, and staff development.

Many of you would not think about this, but where could a district of that size hold staff development or a meeting with all of its teachers? Even in Conroe ISD, for our annual meeting to kick off the year we have to go to the local megachurch (Fellowship of the Woodlands) because it's the only place that will hold everyone. Cy-Fair has solved that.

Think also about graduation--within two years, they will have to find a place for TEN graduations of probably anywhere from 500 to 1000 kids each, with all of the families that go with them. Again, in Conroe we have to go all the way to Sam Houston State in Huntsville because it's the only place that'll hold us. Cy-Fair just solved that problem as well.

Now, do they have to spend THAT much money to accomplish this? That can be debated, but when you factor in all of the money saved by NOT renting out other facilities and all of the money they can make through hosting playoff events and other community events, this will pay for itself.

[This message has been edited by ConroeAg (edited 7/9/2006 12:37a).]

[This message has been edited by ConroeAg (edited 7/9/2006 2:32a).]

hey burtebe.....about ur Southlake Carroll comment and "roids"...im class of 05 and have never been to a game where we lost first off...yes i did miss that one against katy...but if u look at our team u'll see we are undersized and quick...hints the the spread offense....kinda hard to run a quick offense that throws for 55+ touchdowns a year when everyone is "roided" up...i think people just have a hard time admitting a bunch of rich white kids who strive to be the best dominate texas high school football...an example of undersized would be clint renfro,WR 6'0 at best and no more than 165---he runs a 4.4 and now plays at TCU i think if he was on roids he would weigh more than 165 huh? just a thought

" He's not a hard man to track, he leaves dead men where ever he goes."

I liked old Pridgeon Stadium that CY-Fair ISD used. Still one of my best memories off my senior year at Conroe High (1999 season) was having one of my teammates and good friends catch the winning touchdown on our first possession in overtime and then proceding to run up that hill they had just next to the endzone. We chased him to the top and tackled him followed by the rest of the team storming the hill. Good times, good times.

The Alamodome plus the SBC (ATT) Center plus the Henry B Gonzales Convention center renovation costs all combined is approximately the same cost as that complex. But sleep easy when the teachers of your community have a place for their staff development.

Real Deal,

Wow, talk about reading comprehension problems.

First of all, it's not "my" school district. I work in another district where we have one modest stadium that is shared by FIVE high schools. We have approved construction of another stadium so that our kids (including band, cheer, drill team, etc.) aren't having to play on Thursdays and Saturdays anymore, and it's certainly not going to be one of the Taj Mahals. If you look at my user name and reread my last post I'm sure you could piece together that I DON'T work or live in Cy-Fair.

However, as an impartial observer I can look at what they've done and see that it makes sense FOR THEM.

As you apparently didn't realize, whoever threw out that outrageous figure earlier regarding the Berry Center (was it $470 million?) was talking about the ENTIRE bond issue in 2001 that funded the construction of NINE new schools and took care of NUMEROUS additions, maintenance issues, technology upgrades, etc., not just a stadium complex.

Surely you didn't think that the Berry Center really cost $470 million dollars all by itself, did you? Really?? Use a little common sense, man.

And if the place is nice enough to be able to recoup that money spent, what difference should it make to you? If they spend $15 million on a bare bones stadium that would be used by no one but district teams, it could break even right? If they spend three or four times that amount, making it really nice so that it's used heavily for playoff games (both basketball and football), marching contests, meeting space, etc., they could still break even with all that income right (it's already been done at Waco ISD)? So why do you care in what manner they break even?

Also, lest you think that little Johnny and Susie are suffering because of the money wasted on athletics, Cy-Fair has been "Recognized" for at least 6 years in a row, unheard of for a district its size.

Finally, the taxpayers of Cy-Fair VOTED FOR the bond issue that included this complex.

So just what's your problem--it's too nice? Schools shouldn't have nice stuff? I work in a school that's almost 50 years old and I myself don't even have a classroom of my own (I float from room to room pushing my little cart), but I certainly don't begrudge someone else having something nice. Good for them, and good for the voters for giving the kids, the faculty, and the community something so nice.

Why should you care?

http://www.amarillo.com/stories/082305/pig_2547173.shtml

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...when it is complete, the 56-year-old Dick Bivins stadium, which seats 15,000, will have by far the most extensive remodeling in its history.

"I'm not saying it will be better than any facility in the state, but it will be the equal,'' AISD athletic director Tex Nolan said.

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AAAAAg

[This message has been edited by Aggie1 (edited 7/9/2006 2:41a).]

I'll also throw in a vote for Silsbee. First time I drove by it I was very impressed.

out of all my days playing at Katy, the worst stadium I played at was Grob Stadium in Spring Branch ISD.

I like how K-2 Aggie posted Copperas Cove Bulldogs at WISD stadium. I guess because their stadium is the worst stadium I have been to.

I didn't grow up in Texas, but our home field was Anaheim Stadium, which is now Edison Field.

The first time we played there we put 38000 in the seats. Of course that was in 1967...

I love my family...

quote:

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We could open up a whole other can of worms if we begin discussing whether or not Cy-Fair should have spent $470.5 million on their new complex.

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They didn't, they spent $72,897,808 on the complex. Check the cfisd website.

HTown is right.. it was 72 million. Still a ton of money but NOT 470 million which would have been national news. Most of the money went to building numerous new HS, JHS, and Elem. schools as the district, which is really overly large, and used to be 80% pasture (and is why nobody saw a problem with its size), is turning 100% subdivision at a lightning pace. Cy-Fair will be it's own football district in a few years. It needs this. Maybe not as grand, but it's nice to see schools that actually have nice facilities for once instead of half-assed lowest bidder, cheap looking **** - a la Texas A&M.

Angry Red!! 'Nuff Said!!
Burleson High School's, Burleson Stadium
Home of the Elks
Probably not the best, but a whole lot better than what we had in my day. It was used by KU last year as a practice facility before their bowl game in Fort Worth.
http://www.burlesonisd.net/Stadium/Stadium.htm













[This message has been edited by bbransom (edited 7/9/2006 10:19a).]

Cy Fair really pisses me off. I'm a taxpayer in that district and the schools we're zoned for are so inadequate that I'll probably either move or pay for private school if we ever have kids. Just goes to show that facilities don't mean a thing if they're filled with ******bags who weren't raised right.

BTW, I'm sure that alot of the schools on the west end of the district are great, but we're stuck with Cy Ridge. I've never met a parent of a Cy Ridge kid who had anything good to say about it.

Tangential rant over.

[This message has been edited by Buck Turgidson (edited 7/9/2006 12:16p).]

http://www.etsupersite.com/lobostadbig.html

I've been to many of the stadiums listed and been on the field for most of them. I judge by view, distance from field, field lighting, height of lights (so as not be distracted when looking from across the field), surface, and other (e.g. parking). I also don't like metal stands, preferring concrete structures. To me, the metal stuff looks cheap.

Coppell is fine as a stadium, but parking is borderline lousy and the lighting is just above terrible. The surface is OK, but with the track, the seats are back a bit. Ingress and egress to the stadium entrances is pretty good, and like the Gopher Bowl, you enter at the top and go down. I like that.

Pennington in Bedford: great stadium, but lousy lighting and so-so surface. Excellent place to watch game because stands are close to the field, but far enough back to you still have a good view for plays from the 20 yard line.

Gopher Bowl (now Gopher Warrior Bowl, btw): too close to the field, so views are distorted. Recent changes make stadium decent, but nothing more than that. Parking is terrible and thats an improvement from years past.

SLC has a fine stadium in most respects, but I think they built the visitor's side a bit small. I know Arlington High complained about that when they played a playoff game there several years ago. Parking is also a bit scarce. I also think Grapevine/Colleyville is decent, but not as many seats as could have been put in there.

Although not the spiffiest stadium now, Texas Stadium is still my favorite place to watch a HS football game. The lighting is excellent, the surface is good, and the sightlines from the stands are terrific -- even from 25 yard line seats.

One stadium not mentioned here that sure looks nice is Kincaid Stadium in south Dallas (DISD facility). Its part of a complex that has a very nice basketball arena. Both the stadium and the arena left out seats that could have been put in there.

Any DISD stadium should be at the top. Especially Forester Field. That place is amazing... hahaha. maybe Loos field too