Outsider's Review of the Rent (www.stadiumjourney.com)

[huskymedic]

Stumbled upon this site which rates venues across a wide range of sports (pro, ncaa, nascar, etc):

>>Reviewing Rentschler - Official Review by Sean Rowland, Stadium Journey Special Correspondent (http://www.stadiumjourney.com/stadiums/rentschler-field-s463/)
The University of Connecticut's football program has a long history dating back to 1897, but the sport did not reach the big time until 2000. That is when UConn moved up to the Division I-A level (now known as FBS) and after starting as an independent, they became members of the Big East.

A major part of the move was the building of beautiful Rentschler Field, which opened in 2003. Instead of putting it on-campus in rural Storrs, the stadium was built about 20 miles to the West in East Hartford, just outside the State Capitol.

What's interesting about the venue is that it's built on an old airfield with the same name as the old Pratt & Whitney space closed in 1999 and the land was donated for the stadium. Rentschler is a really nice facility that has turned into a terrific home for the Huskies and their fans, as they continue to build on their remarkable early success in the Big East.<<

Rates the experience on Food & Beverage, Atmosphere, Neighborhood, Fans, Access, Return on Investment and Extras. Total score came out @ 3.1 out of 5.0. F+B, Fans and Access got 4's - Lowest score was "neighborhood" which got a 1. Thought it was a fair and balanced review.

Not as detailed as Texan Mark's for the BE. We also need to help him a bit as GP and HCC are missing under NCAA BB.

Just sharing.

Oh - for ha-ha's compare BCU and Duke pictures and the UConn picture.

 

[Adios]

The University of Connecticut's football program has a long history dating back to 1896*, but the sport did not reach the big time until 2000.

Nice to see the writer acknowledge our full history, unlike some of our, cough, cough, fans. Somewhat surprisingly, he gave the fans a solid rating.

 

[kemba]

Very fair I thought.

Only thing I'd change is if the neighborhood section includes tailgating, I'd bump up neighborhood a bit, because I think a really fun tailgating scene makes up for not having a lot of places nearby to go before and after.

Besides that I agree with pretty much all of it.

 

[UCFBfan]

Wonder what game he went to and what year it was. From the picture it looks like the last banner was for the Papa John's Bowl so it must be at least 2-3 years ago. Overall I agree with his write up but think parking has gotten even better and that the atmosphere could be considered better then he explained but it depends on the game he went to. However, the same can probably be said about any stadium in regards to who the opponent was and the fan reaction was.

Cool site find! Thanks for sharing it

 

[brasssbonanzaa]

The site lost credibility with me when they said Alumni Stadium was easy to get to, and cited the T as the reasoning. Nothing on the T is easy to get to.

 

[Waquoit]

Nice to see the writer acknowledge our full history, unlike some of our, cough, cough, fans. Somewhat surprisingly, he gave the fans a solid rating.

Why is that such a surprise? It's nothing that wasn't already said by the Heisman Trophy winner. It's mostly the knobs on this board that stay home and watch on TV that badmouth the fans that actually go to games and support the program.

It was good to see an independent voice comment on the great sightlines and how every seat is a good one. I couldn't believe how one Rent basher was crtical of the sightlines a while back.

 

[ZooCougar]

I would give our fans a solid A- for just about every category but timeliness and traveling to away games. I think the timeliness grade is inverse to the high quality of the tailgate scene.

Neighborhood should get bumped up for the tailgating piece.

 

[Rondogg]

I like the Stadium but I don't like:
1. All that gray concrete stained with garbage water
2. The Jumbotron needs to be Upgraded
3. Seats should have been installed throught the Stadium.
4. Silver benches make the place look vacant.
5. UConn fans (present company excepted) who don't wear blue/white. Purple, seriously?

Continuing, I do like:
1. Availability of beer without too much of a line
2. The fans, when they get loud.
3. Gameday experience used to be my biggest pet peeve, every year it gets a little better. Still a long way to go...
4. All the 14 year olds in 2003 are now 23 - adding a new generation of fans (in a few years) is what sustains a program.

 

[brasssbonanzaa]

The thing I tend not to like about some of these stadium touring websites is that they get very skewed views of the facility sometimes based on who the opponent is. I don't know how much that is the case here, but in reading some of the other reviews, more specifically in non-football sports, the reviews vary from the norm of a facility if the visit took place against a specific opponent. For instance, he talks about BC students being incredibly engaged in the atmosphere and hanging on every moment at a hockey game (far from reality) when he visited a night they played BU, by far the biggest home game of the year for them. I don't know what game he visited Rentschler, but I'd rather take the viewpoint of someone who's made multiple trips to a facility, someone like Mark, as opposed to someone who's been there once to either a big time rivalry game or a ho-hum cupcake.

 

[Adios]

Why is that such a surprise? It's nothing that wasn't already said by the Heisman Trophy winner. It's mostly the knobs on this board that stay home and watch on TV that badmouth the fans that actually go to games and support the program.

It was good to see an independent voice comment on the great sightlines and how every seat is a good one. I couldn't believe how one Rent basher was crtical of the sightlines a while back.

That was sarcasm based on the fact some don't care for the whole history of the program. I know the place gets loud.

 

[Jimmy Serrano]

That was sarcasm based on the fact some don't care for the whole history of the program. I know the place gets loud.

Some don't care? How about 90% don't care. Why would/should they as long as they buy tickets and support the current team? I don't care about our rivalry with various CT high schools in the early 1900's. Does that make me a bad fan?

 

[Adios]

Some don't care? How about 90% don't care. Why would/should they as long as they buy tickets and support the current team? I don't care about our rivalry with various CT high schools in the early 1900's. Does that make me a bad fan?

We started playing only colleges in 1915.

 

[whaler11]

Some don't care? How about 90% don't care. Why would/should they as long as they buy tickets and support the current team? I don't care about our rivalry with various CT high schools in the early 1900's. Does that make me a bad fan?

In Butchy's mind yes. You need to care about the 1898 loss to the Willimantic YMCA. It doesn't matter that the sport is barely recognizable from as recently as 1975 - nevermind 1915.

 

[Adios]

In Butchy's mind yes. You need to care about the 1898 loss to the Willimantic YMCA. It doesn't matter that the sport is barely recognizable from as recently as 1975 - nevermind 1915.

I didn't say anything about YMCAs. About all state schools were playing high schools back then. With the mentality of "90% of the fanbase", if we have a bad season, we might as well blame it on Obama.

 

[whaler11]

I didn't say anything about YMCAs. About all state schools were playing high schools back then. With the mentality of "90% of the fanbase", if we have a bad season, we might as well blame it on Obama.

Which might be why almost no one cares.

The second half of your post is puzzling even for you.

 

[Adios]

Which might be why almost no one cares.

The second half of your post is puzzling even for you.

I was being sarcastic about a trendy perspective that's floating around nowadays as opposed to a historical perspective of why things are as they are. Our whole history does play into why we are "peasants" (which was brought up in a conference realignment thread). Our fans don't even expect us to be "kings". I think we can reach "baron" status if things develop towards our favor. If Oregon can do it, so can we. We just need a mega-booster. 25+ conference championships in football also don't hurt. Who knows how the future will unfold.

Personally, I like history. Hard for me to ignore. What's past leads up to what is now.

 

[ZooCougar]

I still can't get over that loss to Torrington HS in 1908.

 

[spsct]

I still can't get over that loss to Torrington HS in 1908.

Remember it well, do you?

 

[ruskin]

Other than not being on campus, the Rent is pretty darn perfect for its function. Easy in/out, close to highways, plenty of room to park (for now, though I worry that the state will somehow screw that up). The biggest drawback is the lack of modern scoreboard signage. Just let the guys who did the Gampel scoreboards do their magic and we'd be set. Would love nothing more than a 15-20K expansion but would hold off until we get consecutive years of sold out season tix.
I sort of worry that UConn football tickets are becoming like Travelers Championship tickets in that as long as you have some kind of business connection in the state you really don't need to pay for tickets if you want to go to a game. The lack of incentive to buy for the casual fan needs to be addressed, ,although I don't have a solution.

 

[ZooCougar]

Remember it well, do you?

Yes, I actually borrowed the Dr.'s Delorean and went back and watched it. Unsurprisingly our offense in 1908 wasn't much different than the previous coach's offense.

 

[whaler11]

Yes, I actually borrowed the Dr.'s Delorean and went back and watched it. Unsurprisingly our offense in 1908 wasn't much different than the previous coach's offense.

Last coach never lost to a Housatonic League school - home or on the road!

 

[ZooCougar]

Last coach never lost to a Housatonic League school - home or on the road!

Yes but how would he account for the Ansonia Freshman squad's high octane passing offense?

 

[BlueMAB]

We started playing only colleges in 1915.

Ahh, the good ole days. When the fans wore blue, and the cheerleaders wore skirts down to their ankles.

 

[ZooCougar]

Ahh, the good ole days. When the fans wore blue, and the cheerleaders wore skirts down to their ankles.

That depends on what you mean buy down to the ankles.

 

[BlueMAB]

That depends on what you mean buy down to the ankles.

Well played sir!