With the building of reKyle (or whatever name it will take), Aggie athletics will be dead.

It started with the loss of Olsen Field, just.

I'm still searching for the good in all of this mess.

[This message has been edited by TexasRebel (edited 10/25/2011 6:25p).]

I found the good in all of this: GREAT, KICK-ASS facilities that will be the envy of many plus lots of cash flow into A&M's AD!

The days of crappy A&M athletic facilities are over!

The freaking neighborhood should have been gone ten years ago...

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I'm still searching for the good in all of this mess.

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The concourse will double in width! Also, I am assuming that the men's room won't have that awful funk any more. They better air-condition that bad boy!

Recruits like new and shiny, not old and crumbling. Blue bell will be the nicest baseball facility in the state

you know there is benefit to making restrooms uncomfortable, right? People don't live in them.


As far as recruits caring about the fan's facilities, my stance is firm. No good will or even can come of it.

as far as the concourse widening... I'm very proud that the forklift got you out of your home okay... keep walking and the weight will come off.

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With the building of reKyle (or whatever name it will take), Aggie athletics will be dead.

It started with the loss of Olsen Field, just.

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And here I always thought that what made aggies and aggie athletics great was the 12th man and former students that made the atmosphere tremendous no matter where we were playing because they were there to watch the Fightin' Texas Aggies beat the hell outta whoever we were playing.

But from the thread on this board about the renovated Olsen and the plans for Kyle, I have learned I was completely wrong. The only thing that matters is how the building looks and what the name on the building is. The fans inside have no bearing on the atmosphere or the greatness of Aggie athletics.

you're wrong twice.

what makes Aggie Athletics great is tradition.

Tradition that is, apparently, fleeting.

[This message has been edited by TexasRebel (edited 10/26/2011 12:15a).]

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Tradition that is, apparently, fleeting.

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How is tradition "fleeting"? It looks like your definition of fleeting is when a couple of buildings get upgrades. The great traditions of this university would have never been without the students and alumni making them happen.

And since when is Olsen Field "gone"? I'm sure when I come down to a baseball game this spring, Olsen Field will still be there. It may have a new facade and an upgrade, but the name is still Olsen Field. Olsen magic will still be alive and well with the fans that will come to see them play ball on Olsen Field.

Traditions will die when everyone has your attitude. Like I said before, the great traditions are alive and well because of us, not because of an old out of date structure.

he's just trying to draw us offsides. It worked!

TexasRebel- so you think the renovation the first time was wrong then? If that was the case then here is your field.

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Beat me to it.....go back to the original wooden stands Kyle and let the baseball team play there.

After that, all traditions are dead.

TexasRebel- and by the way Olsen Field is not lost. The facility is being updated and the name will still be there, same field, same traditons, just with sprinkles.

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Tradition that is, apparently, fleeting.

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Quit acting like Olsen Field is Wrigley Field or Fenway Park and the Ags have been playing there for 100 years. Even these venerable parks have have had upgrades.

[This message has been edited by jkag89 (edited 10/26/2011 10:02a).]

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I'm still searching for the good in all of this mess.

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7 million dollars in donations at Olsen.

Seriously, the 12th Man and the Raggies can still do their thing in new digs. I'm of the crowd that wishes we never had to "sell out", but apparently we needed the financial assistance.

Luckily, the team playing at these venues are still the same Aggies and the crowd is still made up of Aggies. A few years of seeing Aggie baseball in a place with a new name and I assume most people would be over it.

If OP is serious, he needs professional help fast. Midnight Yell, Silver Taps, Muster, and Elephant Walk are traditions. Dilapidated structures are not and never will be. In his way of thinking, the neighborhood went South 40 years ago when General Rudder destroyed tradition by admitting women to Texas A&M.

The atmosphere used to be. The best traditions are... well were, the ones not listed on any tamu.edu site.

OP is truly an idiot

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OP is truly an idiot

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No, OP is one of the best contributors on this board.

He can call me an idiot if he wants to.

Tom Holliday would advise you that quickly consuming a *****, while subsequently admitting sexual relations with your mother, is advisable here.

I just think you're misguided.

Well...bye.

Damn straight Olsen isnt Wrigley. We dont have giant chunks of concrete falling into the bleachers.

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No, OP is one of the best contributors on this board.

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Even great hitters strike out...

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The atmosphere used to be.

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And why do you think the atmosphere is going to change so much with the upgrades?

[This message has been edited by jkag89 (edited 10/27/2011 11:18a).]

tradition went south when we remodeled Kyle after WWII apparently!

Agree with TexasRebel on the naming conventions and some of his other ideas.

I thought we used to take pride in not selling out? I guess I need to apologize to some opposing fans.

I'm not thrilled about getting a corporate name either, but the reality is that the facilities wars have spread to college baseball. It will always be Olsen to me, and that's what I will continue to call it. I expect that outside of university and the media that's what everyone will call it.

I've felt like $Bill has been unwilling to sink a dime into Olsen for years now. Some things that I care about will be getting addressed with this renovation.

The concourse is doubling in width. I love that you can watch every pitch from the concourse, but this leads to large groups of people blocking traffic. The wider concourses will help.

The concessions are Olsen are just terrible. I try to bring something in, but on a lot of Tuesdays and Friday, I get home from work, change, head to Olsen, and get there just in time for the anthem. I am hoping that the new Olsen will have a kitchen.

My other big gripe is the men's restroom. It's never been properly ventilated, it's very small, and it isn't air-conditioned. The warmer it gets outside, the more disgusting that place gets. I am happy to see this taken care of.

I find suites and club seating to be the absolute antithesis of the classic Olsen experience. On the other hand, when those people are conducting business, networking, or whatever, I'll be in my same cheap seat rooting just as hard for my Ags.

I still think that the Athletic Department should have put a big club area on top of the rec center. People who pay for luxury seating don't give a rat's ass what's going on in the game, so let them mingle 500' from home plate.

[This message has been edited by dabo man (edited 10/27/2011 4:34p).]

Hey Seabass,

Please send me an email at root@squash.tamu.edu.

I like the old rustic feel of Kyle Field. If you want to renovate and add on that's fine. I just don't like the idea of tearing it down and starting over.

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Olsen Field is not lost

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Yes it is. With the OP's definition Olson was lost about 5 or 6 years ago, along with the Aggie Sooftball field. Byrne had both fields ripped up, leveled, drainage systems installed, and sodded with premium grasses. Our traditions have been dead and we never even knew it!

They've actually put a lot of money into Olsen in the past five to ten years. They replaced the entire playing surface, put up a new scoreboard, padded the outfield wall, and built covered batting cages. If I remember correctly Olsen was not ADA compliant, so they couldn't do anything to the stadium without also brining it up to code, so it made sense to wait until the money to renovate was there.

Also, you may not like the suites, but those are going to help the baseball program get closer to breaking even or even turn a profit, as will the renovations, in general.

Stadiums and their names are not what make Aggie Athletics special. It's we, as Aggies, that do. The Raggies aren't going to mellow out just because the stadium is nicer. The 12th Man isn't going to sit down and quit yelling if they renovate or replace Kyle. Traditions are important. Massive concrete structures are not.

Many Ags have seen the dorms they lived in demolished or turned into offices. Our campus has seen significant changes as our university continues to grow and advance. Why should our athletic facilities be left behind? We've already fallen well behind the likes of tu, OU, and LSU and continue to play catch up. Doing so takes money, and if individuals aren't stepping up with enough, then corporate dollars will be considered. But regardless of where the money comes from, large donations of that type come with naming rights. It could have just as easily been Olsen Field at LastName Stadium.

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Massive concrete structures are not.

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nope, concrete doesn't help sound project forward one bit. Aluminum benches that rattle and ping aren't good NCAA exempt noisemakers at all, and a hill down the right field line punishes those who show up late exactly like a cookie sheet in the sun.


The only folks who aren't unhappy about the loss of Puryear, Law, Hotard and the others never lived in them.

You forgot Crocker, Moore, Moses (I think), and McInnis.

But then again, razed and hauled off is a lot different than repurposed or renovated.