Update on the campus master plan

[pepband99]

News flash: the university can and will build the hockey arena on the intended site. Any opposition by municipal government is purely symbolic. This is just an exercise in whipping up a frenzy of hatred. And hey, whatever helps you guys cope.

The comparison to University Park, PA is deeply flawed. No private residents live in University Park, whereas in Storrs, people live on privately held land. Not all land in Storrs is owned by the university. If you doubt this, PM me and I'll show you the deed of the house I'm sitting in.

If you actually followed town politics, the hillbillies are not the "active fringe", but I can see none of you actually care to have that explained. Just be lucky that the university isn't located in Willington, Ashford, or Chaplin.

Your opposition always confuses me. I get that you don't like the mob here badmouthing the fine people of Mansfield. However, your quote:

"Any opposition by municipal government is purely symbolic. This is just an exercise in whipping up a frenzy of hatred. And hey, whatever helps you guys cope."

...on which side? Is there not a collective anti-UConn group within the PRM? It goes both ways, and one group is a bunch of internet yahoos, the other is actually supposedly a functioning municipality.

 

[Sportsman5]

News flash: the university can and will build the hockey arena on the intended site. Any opposition by municipal government is purely symbolic. This is just an exercise in whipping up a frenzy of hatred. And hey, whatever helps you guys cope.

The comparison to University Park, PA is deeply flawed. No private residents live in University Park, whereas in Storrs, people live on privately held land. Not all land in Storrs is owned by the university. If you doubt this, PM me and I'll show you the deed of the house I'm sitting in.

If you actually followed town politics, the hillbillies are not the "active fringe", but I can see none of you actually care to have that explained. Just be lucky that the university isn't located in Willington, Ashford, or Chaplin.

I think his comparison to Penn state is accurate if you assume that someone who lives literally next to a college is fine with college students and construction.

 

[Stainmaster]

Your opposition always confuses me. I get that you don't like the mob here badmouthing the fine people of Mansfield. However, your quote:

"Any opposition by municipal government is purely symbolic. This is just an exercise in whipping up a frenzy of hatred. And hey, whatever helps you guys cope."

...on which side? Is there not a collective anti-UConn group within the PRM? It goes both ways, and one group is a bunch of internet yahoos, the other is actually supposedly a functioning municipality.

I'm a lifelong resident, and I live with a municipal official who also devoted almost his entire professional career to the university. So when people say idiotic things, I reserve the right to get a little peeved. You can save your sarcasm. At least you guys know that you're yahoos.

"Supposedly a functioning municipality" -- you care not one iota about the actual functioning of the municipality. All you (and anyone else posting here) care about is the university. Not saying that's a bad thing. You don't live in Storrs, you live in another municipality and hopefully you're politically active there. But the posts about "these yokels don't know what's best for them" are just hilarious. Nobody here gives a rat's @$$ about what's best for the people of Storrs. In fact, I think if a poll were conducted, then the majority here would believe that forcing town residents at gunpoint to build the hockey arena and an on-campus football stadium themselves like the slaves of the Exodus would be "best for them".

 

[SubbaBub]

News flash: the university can and will build the hockey arena on the intended site. Any opposition by municipal government is purely symbolic. This is just an exercise in whipping up a frenzy of hatred. And hey, whatever helps you guys cope.

The comparison to University Park, PA is deeply flawed. No private residents live in University Park, whereas in Storrs, people live on privately held land. Not all land in Storrs is owned by the university. If you doubt this, PM me and I'll show you the deed of the house I'm sitting in.

If you actually followed town politics, the hillbillies are not the "active fringe", but I can see none of you actually care to have that explained. Just be lucky that the university isn't located in Willington, Ashford, or Chaplin.

If the university wants to buy your house to build a dorm, they should be able to do it without the peanut gallery chiming in on how terrible UConn treats Mansfield.

I say this as a non-Alum, who has done business with both entities and has appeared before the hillbillies enough to know what I talking about.

You do have a certain portion of the community that IMHO is over represented in the local government who who like nothing better than for the U to remain stagnant or even recede it's footprint. You don't need to look past the most recent comments on the Master Plan to see it on full display.

The truth of the matter is that the U is one of the more important economic drivers for the State going forward. CT needs a highly educated and skilled workforce to compete against lower cost regions. Having a top 10 public university is a lynch pin for that plan.

What has always blown my mind is the lack of vision by Town leadership to understand they have what every local government wants, a diverse, younger skewing consumer base. The fact that anything close to Storrs Center took this long is an embarrassment to public administrators everywhere.

The reason no one lives in University Park (Not sure that's completely accurate, but whatever) is that Penn State bought everything inside that boundary decades ago. That exactly what UConn should be doing. For a school it's size and location it is unnecessarily squeezed.

Should they develop the Depot Campus, absolutely. But, that's not going to be a picnic either as you saw with the tech park. A tech park that was built partially because UConn promised to convert a significant portion of the Depot campus as compensatory farmland.

If you don't what your house bought through eminent domain, that's perfectly understandable. Just don't pretend it's smart from a planning perspective. The state's best interest is to build out to what they need for the number of students and research facilities they think they can attract.

Mansfield would do well to look at State College as a model. For being in the middle of nowhere is surprisingly modern and quaint at the same time. I'd also look at the surrounding towns to see what they look like in comparison for a clue to what Mansfield would look like without the U.

 

[Stainmaster]

If the university wants to buy your house to build a dorm, they should be able to do it without the peanut gallery chiming in on how terrible UConn treats Mansfield.

I say this as a non-Alum, who has done business with both entities and has appeared before the hillbillies enough to know what I talking about.

You do have a certain portion of the community that IMHO is over represented in the local government who who like nothing better than for the U to remain stagnant or even recede it's footprint. You don't need to look past the most recent comments on the Master Plan to see it on full display.

The truth of the matter is that the U is one of the more important economic drivers for the State going forward. CT needs a highly educated and skilled workforce to compete against lower cost regions. Having a top 10 public university is a lynch pin for that plan.

What has always blown my mind is the lack of vision by Town leadership to understand they have what every local government wants, a diverse, younger skewing consumer base. The fact that anything close to Storrs Center took this long is an embarrassment to public administrators everywhere.

The reason no one lives in University Park (Not sure that's completely accurate, but whatever) is that Penn State bought everything inside that boundary decades ago. That exactly what UConn should be doing. For a school it's size and location it is unnecessarily squeezed.

Should they develop the Depot Campus, absolutely. But, that's not going to be a picnic either as you saw with the tech park. A tech park that was built partially because UConn promised to convert a significant portion of the Depot campus as compensatory farmland.

If you don't what your house bought through eminent domain, that's perfectly understandable. Just don't pretend it's smart from a planning perspective. The state's best interest is to build out to what they need for the number of students and research facilities they think they can attract.

Mansfield would do well to look at State College as a model. For being in the middle of nowhere is surprisingly modern and quaint at the same time. I'd also look at the surrounding towns to see what they look like in comparison for a clue to what Mansfield would look like without the U.

I'm not stupid. I know that buying all of the private land in town and razing it would be best for the university. But it wouldn't be best for me because I enjoy living where I live. And I surmise that the same can be said for other residents. There's a difference between a NIMBY yokel and somebody who doesn't want to sell their land to the university.

As to your comment about over-representation, I can't argue that the law allowing any political party to have a maximum of 6 seats on the Town Council is outdated. The fact that there are three people who want to see Mansfield recede into the forest on the council is a personal embarrassment to myself as a voting resident. But those three people represent a miniscule fraction of the population -- they do not speak for the majority.

Then again, nobody here cares about that. "Screw all of them stupid hicks! Ra ra ra!"

 

[SubbaBub]

I'm a lifelong resident, and I live with a municipal official who also devoted almost his entire professional career to the university. So when people say idiotic things, I reserve the right to get a little peeved. You can save your sarcasm. At least you guys know that you're yahoos.

"Supposedly a functioning municipality" -- you care not one iota about the actual functioning of the municipality. All you (and anyone else posting here) care about is the university. Not saying that's a bad thing. You don't live in Storrs, you live in another municipality and hopefully you're politically active there. But the posts about "these yokels don't know what's best for them" are just hilarious. Nobody here gives a rat's @$$ about what's best for the people of Storrs. In fact, I think if a poll were conducted, then the majority here would believe that forcing town residents at gunpoint to build the hockey arena and an on-campus football stadium themselves like the slaves of the Exodus would be "best for them".

The town has a legit beef about any FB stadium, especially a B1G one. It dominates life in the fall. A 4500 seat hockey rink and parking adjacent to a commercial district, that's manna from heaven as far as economic development goes.

I'm also a former local yokel in my locale and I can say this after over 10 years of yokelling, some of the locals are so yokel that you wish they were a lot less vocal, say 100% less vocal. Meaning serving on a local board is indicative of nothing other than a willingness to give up some of your time. There are some real specimens on these boards. I've met a few of yours and I can think of one in particular who is more problem than solution.

 

[Stainmaster]

The town has a legit beef about any FB stadium, especially a B1G one. It dominates life in the fall. A 4500 seat hockey rink and parking adjacent to a commercial district, that's manna from heaven as far as economic development goes.

I'm also a former local yokel in my locale and I can say this after over 10 years of yokelling, some of the locals are so yokel that you wish they were a lot less vocal, say 100% less vocal. Meaning serving on a local board is indicative of nothing other than a willingness to give up some of your time. There are some real specimens on these boards. I've met a few of yours and I can think of one in particular who is more problem than solution.

And the arena will be built -- the town has no legal right to the land. Whenever the university wants it done, it'll happen.

Believe me, I understand completely. I don't get to many council meetings, which is probably a good thing considering I'd probably start screaming at the people you're referring to. I hear enough about their shenanigans at the dinner table.

 

[SubbaBub]

I'm not stupid. I know that buying all of the private land in town and razing it would be best for the university. But it wouldn't be best for me because I enjoy living where I live. And I surmise that the same can be said for other residents. There's a difference between a NIMBY yokel and somebody who doesn't want to sell their land to the university.

As to your comment about over-representation, I can't argue that the law allowing any political party to have a maximum of 6 seats on the Town Council is outdated. The fact that there are three people who want to see Mansfield recede into the forest on the council is a personal embarrassment to myself as a voting resident. But those three people represent a miniscule fraction of the population -- they do not speak for the majority.

Then again, nobody here cares about that. "Screw all of them stupid hicks! Ra ra ra!"

So I don't understand your point other than you don't want to sell, naturally. And you admit to a subset of yahoos against any university action. I think that's all anyone is saying.

I don't think UConn is particularly interested in forcibly removing people though I could be wrong on that as administration's change. I do think they are willing to buy any available land abutting the campus, as they should.

My advice to the town has always been to manage that inevitability rather than fight until they lose all control, which they would. One legislative act establishing a university zone is all it would take to remove all of the Town leverage.

I would suggest in return for the UConn ceding the right of eminent domain that the Town create an overlay zone for future University uses and let the market take care of the rest. If you want to sell, sell. If not, then they can build elsewhere with some semblance of planning which hasn't happened to date.

 

[SubbaBub]

And the arena will be built -- the town has no legal right to the land. Whenever the university wants it done, it'll happen.

Believe me, I understand completely. I don't get to many council meetings, which is probably a good thing considering I'd probably start screaming at the people you're referring to. I hear enough about their shenanigans at the dinner table.

I also understand the State's rights to preempt local zoning. The U plays nice as a town and gown PR strategy. To date, the arrangement has hurt both the Town and the school.

 

[Mr. Wonderful]

I say this as a non-Alum, who has done business with both entities and has appeared before the hillbillies enough to know what I talking about.

I doubt the voracity of this claim.

 

[SubbaBub]

I doubt the voracity of this claim.

If you've been on campus you've seen my work. If you live in CT you've seen my work. Believe whatever you want. Your stupid is on you.

 

[pepband99]

I'm a lifelong resident, and I live with a municipal official who also devoted almost his entire professional career to the university. So when people say idiotic things, I reserve the right to get a little peeved. You can save your sarcasm. At least you guys know that you're yahoos.

"Supposedly a functioning municipality" -- you care not one iota about the actual functioning of the municipality. All you (and anyone else posting here) care about is the university. Not saying that's a bad thing. You don't live in Storrs, you live in another municipality and hopefully you're politically active there. But the posts about "these yokels don't know what's best for them" are just hilarious. Nobody here gives a rat's @$$ about what's best for the people of Storrs. In fact, I think if a poll were conducted, then the majority here would believe that forcing town residents at gunpoint to build the hockey arena and an on-campus football stadium themselves like the slaves of the Exodus would be "best for them".

Ok, thanks for explaining your situation, it makes it more understandable.

As for "care not one iota..." you're dead wrong. Off the top of my head, I've seen the PRM have a hand in shooting down:
1) The on-campus football stadium (for better or worse)
2) The original tech park (north campus)
3) Pfizer near horsebarn hill

...just rattling them off. These actions have materially changed the future of UConn, and thus the state, for the worse. The hockey rink is even worse, because it would tear down the frankly dated eyesore mansfield apartments, and provide a needed (contractually and figuratively) facility for a sport that I hold dear. It's a win-win in just about every regard, including most reasonable Mansfield reasoning, so the opposition is head-scratching...

 

[Mr. Wonderful]

If you've been on campus you've seen my work. If you live in CT you've seen my work. Believe whatever you want. Your stupid is on you.

I still think you're full of sh!!t.

 

[Samoo]

I doubt the voracity of this claim.

Me too, it's about to fall into a vartex.

 

[Waquoit]

Nothing in this thread dissuades me from my long-held impression that Mansfield locals are a bunch of dopes.

 

[SubbaBub]

I still think you're full of sh!!t.

I'm not surprised. It's easier to clean off sh!!t than it is stupid.

 

[DarthGrumpy]

News flash: the university can and will build the hockey arena on the intended site. Any opposition by municipal government is purely symbolic. This is just an exercise in whipping up a frenzy of hatred. And hey, whatever helps you guys cope.

The comparison to University Park, PA is deeply flawed. No private residents live in University Park, whereas in Storrs, people live on privately held land. Not all land in Storrs is owned by the university. If you doubt this, PM me and I'll show you the deed of the house I'm sitting in.

If you actually followed town politics, the hillbillies are not the "active fringe", but I can see none of you actually care to have that explained. Just be lucky that the university isn't located in Willington, Ashford, or Chaplin.

I fully expect that more that 7% of Mansfield Residents are behind UConn because they understand that if UConn thrives, Mansfield thrives. All they have to do is look down the hill at Willimantic for an Eastern CT that refuses to accept reality. Its just the <25% loud who think somehow that the last 30 years of development at UConn is going to be unwound and they can all go back tot he sleepy, suitcase, regional university with less than 10K students on campus. My own peeve against Mansfield is from my time there getting harassed by Mansfield PD every weekend and the fact that the town collected all parking ticket violations at the time (still true today?) and it was nearly an impossible process for as student to appeal and win (they loved telling folks in the Spring that they were booked and then only offered appeal times in June & July when, of course, everyone was home).

Mansfield is not the only one where University growth causes an uproar. BC has am mess on it's hands trying to develop the old Archdiocese land they bought across the street from the main campus a couple of years back. Locals complain that the and can't be developed because they want it open to walk their dogs, picnic, etc., even though it was private land before and they were technically trespassing. The best is when locals in Brighton and Newton complain that students living off-campus are taking over their neighborhoods and causing rents to rise. So, when BC announces plans to build more dorms on-campus, the other the same people complain that landlords are not going to be able to make a living after all of the students move back on campus.

 

[Pudge]

I stated this a month or more ago ... and LET ME SAY - I do know what I am talking about - the University does not have to go through Mansfield. It was done "as a courtesy" in the 1980s on Celeron Square (which is on a University groundlease). The University is pushing forward with a NEW authority to do things on their land.

You can throw bricks at each other for awhile. But ... this dysfunctional situation did eventually lead to the University (in the Herbst administration) seeking to do this is a more Institutional manner. I would opine that the Hockey facility is part of this - for sure. And, more importantly, new housing and the new buildings for the Tech Corridor.

 

[DarthGrumpy]

Ok, thanks for explaining your situation, it makes it more understandable.

As for "care not one iota..." you're dead wrong. Off the top of my head, I've seen the PRM have a hand in shooting down:
1) The on-campus football stadium (for better or worse)

There was a rumor that the lead group against the on-campus football stadium in Storrs, I think it was the 'Concerned Taxpayers of Mansfield' or something like that, rented-out a local restaurant and threw themselves a party after the on-campus stadium push died. It w as in the local papers at the time. I am sure that did not win over many fans within the University.

 

[Pudge]

I fully expect that more that 7% of Mansfield Residents are behind UConn because they understand that if UConn thrives, Mansfield thrives. All they have to do is look down the hill at Willimantic for an Eastern CT that refuses to accept reality. Its just the <25% loud who think somehow that the last 30 years of development at UConn is going to be unwound and they can all go back tot he sleepy, suitcase, regional university with less than 10K students on campus. My own peeve against Mansfield is from my time there getting harassed by Mansfield PD every weekend and the fact that the town collected all parking ticket violations at the time (still true today?) and it was nearly an impossible process for as student to appeal and win (they loved telling folks in the Spring that they were booked and then only offered appeal times in June & July when, of course, everyone was home).

Mansfield is not the only one where University growth causes an uproar. BC has am mess on it's hands trying to develop the old Archdiocese land they bought across the street from the main campus a couple of years back. Locals complain that the and can't be developed because they want it open to walk their dogs, picnic, etc., even though it was private land before and they were technically trespassing. The best is when locals in Brighton and Newton complain that students living off-campus are taking over their neighborhoods and causing rents to rise. So, when BC announces plans to build more dorms on-campus, the other the same people complain that landlords are not going to be able to make a living after all of the students move back on campus.

There is a Mayor of Boston WHITE PAPER you can google whereby the City is pushing hard for new Student Housing all over the nearby campuses - 18,000 new beds. They believe that this creates new workforce housing for the lower middle & lower class Bostonians & will reduce rents. Provides safe secure housing for students as well - after a decade of some horrid incidents.

 

[auggie22]

News flash: the university can and will build the hockey arena on the intended site. Any opposition by municipal government is purely symbolic. This is just an exercise in whipping up a frenzy of hatred. And hey, whatever helps you guys cope.

The comparison to University Park, PA is deeply flawed. No private residents live in University Park, whereas in Storrs, people live on privately held land. Not all land in Storrs is owned by the university. If you doubt this, PM me and I'll show you the deed of the house I'm sitting in.

If you actually followed town politics, the hillbillies are not the "active fringe", but I can see none of you actually care to have that explained. Just be lucky that the university isn't located in Willington, Ashford, or Chaplin.

I think you are wrong to imply that the vocal minority in town have no power. I seriously researched a small business venture in storrs before the center started construction. I attended several town meetings and read every page of minutes for several years. An important piece of why I did not move forward was the influential, lunatic fringe. I believe economic development is dampened by the protestation of your fellow townspeople.

 

[brasssbonanzaa]

There is a Mayor of Boston WHITE PAPER you can google whereby the City is pushing hard for new Student Housing all over the nearby campuses - 18,000 new beds. They believe that this creates new workforce housing for the lower middle & lower class Bostonians & will reduce rents. Provides safe secure housing for students as well - after a decade of some horrid incidents.

This goes along with their new (and ridiculous) law that no more than four students can live in a single apartment in city limits, no matter how many actual legitimate bedrooms are in the apartment. Five-bedroom apartment? Only can have four students. They want more on-campus housing here also to lay more of the onus on the universities and university PDs when the kids do stupid stuff.

Mansfield residents wanting a say in whether a 40K+ football stadium is built in their backyard makes sense. Emphasis on wanting a say, not having the power to singularly torpedo the whole thing. Mansfield residents wanting a say on a 6K hockey arena, 20%+ of which would be made up of student tickets, is much more ridiculous.

 

[SubbaBub]

I think you are wrong to imply that the vocal minority in town have no power. I seriously researched a small business venture in storrs before the center started construction. I attended several town meetings and read every page of minutes for several years. An important piece of why I did not move forward was the influential, lunatic fringe. I believe economic development is dampened by the protestation of your fellow townspeople.

The vocal always have power. It's up to the elected leaders to distinguish between the informed vocal and the selfish vocal to act in the communities best interest. A 50k seat FB stadium that would create an entirely new world for three months a year and involve a billion dollars in infrastructure construction is a valid concern. As much as I'm a believer that campus>>off-campus, you can't always fit a square peg into a round hole. UConn draws a lot of it's strength from west of the river. E. Hartford was probably the right choice factoring everything. They do need to finish the development around the Rent and build something worthwhile.

 

[CL82]

This goes along with their new (and ridiculous) law that no more than four students can live in a single apartment in city limits, no matter how many actual legitimate bedrooms are in the apartment. Five-bedroom apartment? Only can have four students. They want more on-campus housing here also to lay more of the onus on the universities and university PDs when the kids do stupid stuff.

Mansfield residents wanting a say in whether a 40K+ football stadium is built in their backyard makes sense. Emphasis on wanting a say, not having the power to singularly torpedo the whole thing. Mansfield residents wanting a say on a 6K hockey arena, 20%+ of which would be made up of student tickets, is much more ridiculous.

I have no problem with the locals having their say, they absolutely should have that opportunity. Giving it a whole lot of weight, particularly when it is uniformly NIMBY, is what doesn't make sense.

 

[brasssbonanzaa]

I have no problem with the locals having their say, they absolutely should have that opportunity. Giving it a whole lot of weight, particularly when it is uniformly NIMBY, is what doesn't make sense.

That's fair. Especially depending on whose land it's going on. Reasonable requests should be heard and considered. Unilateral opposition because they don't like living near a university should not.

 

[Pudge]

This goes along with their new (and ridiculous) law that no more than four students can live in a single apartment in city limits, no matter how many actual legitimate bedrooms are in the apartment. Five-bedroom apartment? Only can have four students. They want more on-campus housing here also to lay more of the onus on the universities and university PDs when the kids do stupid stuff.

Mansfield residents wanting a say in whether a 40K+ football stadium is built in their backyard makes sense. Emphasis on wanting a say, not having the power to singularly torpedo the whole thing. Mansfield residents wanting a say on a 6K hockey arena, 20%+ of which would be made up of student tickets, is much more ridiculous.

FYI - "Grouper" laws (no more than 4 in a unit) are very common - in my experience - in many towns & cities. Boston, for instance, felt that this was a major issue they wanted to address with the new Mayor. They (*UConn) are going to build more housing; but, you are going to see an explosion of NEW Private student housing. Tis the season of lots of Capital.

 

[FASTEDDY]

I'm a lifelong resident, and I live with a municipal official who also devoted almost his entire professional career to the university. So when people say idiotic things, I reserve the right to get a little peeved. You can save your sarcasm. At least you guys know that you're yahoos.

"Supposedly a functioning municipality" -- you care not one iota about the actual functioning of the municipality. All you (and anyone else posting here) care about is the university. Not saying that's a bad thing. You don't live in Storrs, you live in another municipality and hopefully you're politically active there. But the posts about "these yokels don't know what's best for them" are just hilarious. Nobody here gives a rat's @$$ about what's best for the people of Storrs. In fact, I think if a poll were conducted, then the majority here would believe that forcing town residents at gunpoint to build the hockey arena and an on-campus football stadium themselves like the slaves of the Exodus would be "best for them".

Lets not kid ourselves, Mansfield is completely unimportant - its should do and needs to do whatever is best for the university. Period. End of Story. Whats best for the university has huge implications for our state both economically and socially. If the university wants to build a hockey and/or football stadium at a specific location on campus then the Mansfield yokels should have no say and just go ahead with it. Its in their best interest for the university to grow and prosper.

 

[Drew]

http://today.uconn.edu/blog/2015/05...-of-construction-on-downtown-hartford-campus/

 

[ElGuapo]

I'm heading up to Storrs in a few minutes to see Les Mis with my wife at Jorgensen.
For chits and giggles I decided to Google Maps the campus and check in on how it looks.

https://www.google.com/maps/place/U...0x89e68a3643139a29:0xeee0e97c22979299!6m1!1e1

Curiously the UCMB practice field image changed from the old one which had Big East markings on it to the new one that has nothing.
Perhaps UCONN didn't want to waste the money with AAC garbage knowing to wait and spend the money on a new conference?

Anywho, I'll be at the Bidwell bar with my wife from 11:30 - 12:30 enjoying some beers and grub to pre-game the play I am being dragged to.

 

[junglehusky]

I'm heading up to Storrs in a few minutes to see Les Mis with my wife at Jorgensen.
For chits and giggles I decided to Google Maps the campus and check in on how it looks.

https://www.google.com/maps/place/U...0x89e68a3643139a29:0xeee0e97c22979299!6m1!1e1

Curiously the UCMB practice field image changed from the old one which had Big East markings on it to the new one that has nothing.
Perhaps UCONN didn't want to waste the money with AAC garbage knowing to wait and spend the money on a new conference?

Anywho, I'll be at the Bidwell bar with my wife from 11:30 - 12:30 enjoying some beers and grub to pre-game the play I am being dragged to.

No endzones. Are you sure that's not the football team's practice field?

I kid, I kid.