With the 2007-08 school year nearing a close -- we're less than a month from commencement here at ETBU -- I also will be passing a personal career milestone.
I will be completing my eighth year as Sports Information Director here, with the ninth beginning on June 1. Eight years seems like a very long time for me. I'm one of those kinds of people who needs change to stay fresh. That's the good thing about working in athletics, specifically as an S.I.D. There's always something changing -- I just move from one season to the next, and hope always springs fresh in the springtime for better results the following year.
Since walking on campus as an employee in the summer of 2000, I have seen a lot of changes within our athletic department. My first day at work back then was still three months before ETBU's football team made its official return after being away for a half-century. Ornelas Stadium was still just a big hole in the ground, and Carlile-Howell Hall was still being gutted out and remodeled into what is now Carlile-Howell Fieldhouse.
Eight years later, Ornelas Stadium is probably the best game-day facility in the ASC. One of the best in the nation, in fact. I'll say that with total confidence because I've seen a lot of facilities over the years and there's not one that matches "The Jungle." Even the D-II places we've visited don't hold a candle to what ETBU has provided for its football program.
Facility improvement has been a constant goal for ETBU, not just athletics but all over campus, under Dr. Bob Riley as president. In athletics alone, the only current facility still in use when Dr. Riley arrived is the Tiger baseball field -- Woods Field. Over the last few years that ballpark has seen countless upgrades in appearance as well, with brick dugouts, new backstop fencing and brick, a brand-new scoreboard, a batting cage with astroturf, and this year the lights that have provided night baseball for the first time in our history.
ETBU has constructed a football stadium, gymnasium, softball field and soccer field in the last 12 years. Ornelas Gymnasium opened in 1995 and is still, again in my own biased yet well-traveled opinion, probably one of the top three indoor athletics arenas in the ASC. Even half-full sometimes, the "House of Blues" might rank as the loudest game-day venues in the league with its acoustics. There have been some memorable games played in that gym the last eight years, and I can tell you when it gets rocking your ears will ring afterwards. We expect and hope for even more loud, memorable moments in there in the near future.
Taylor Field, for softball, is also one of the top game-day facilities in the conference. It too has received an upgrade in the last three years, with its brick dugouts as well as a remodeled press box/locker room. I've been asked why we need so much space up there in the press box, and I always say so that the air conditioning can cool more space! Thank God for air conditioning!
Word is that Taylor Field is in line to receive some new lights as well as a new outfield fence sometime in the near future. That will only add to its overall quality and appearance.
And finally, Tiger soccer has had its own home since 2002 in Cornish Field, which just received its official name this past fall. The soccer field sits just beyond the line of pine trees north of Ornelas Stadium, and it provides a great place for ETBU's soccer teams in the fall for both practice and games. The first couple of years here, covering soccer, were spent at what is now Anderson Sports Complex. This in itself wasn't a bad soccer facility -- the Tigers had two national champions compete there in the late 1990s of course -- but again ETBU's commitment to first-class facilities made it essential that a new, soccer-only facility be constructed. Cornish Field's spectator area was improved last season, with new permanent bleachers and landscaping added, and there are plans to renovate the bench areas and game worker/film area as well.
We are proud of our student-athletes at ETBU, and we are also very proud of the places they use for competition. I don't know if eight years qualifies one to be an expert or not, and again I'm a bit slanted in my opinion of course. But I'd put our athletic facilities up against anyone's as a group and not feel inferior in any way, shape or form. And they are only getting better.
I will be completing my eighth year as Sports Information Director here, with the ninth beginning on June 1. Eight years seems like a very long time for me. I'm one of those kinds of people who needs change to stay fresh. That's the good thing about working in athletics, specifically as an S.I.D. There's always something changing -- I just move from one season to the next, and hope always springs fresh in the springtime for better results the following year.
Since walking on campus as an employee in the summer of 2000, I have seen a lot of changes within our athletic department. My first day at work back then was still three months before ETBU's football team made its official return after being away for a half-century. Ornelas Stadium was still just a big hole in the ground, and Carlile-Howell Hall was still being gutted out and remodeled into what is now Carlile-Howell Fieldhouse.
Eight years later, Ornelas Stadium is probably the best game-day facility in the ASC. One of the best in the nation, in fact. I'll say that with total confidence because I've seen a lot of facilities over the years and there's not one that matches "The Jungle." Even the D-II places we've visited don't hold a candle to what ETBU has provided for its football program.
Facility improvement has been a constant goal for ETBU, not just athletics but all over campus, under Dr. Bob Riley as president. In athletics alone, the only current facility still in use when Dr. Riley arrived is the Tiger baseball field -- Woods Field. Over the last few years that ballpark has seen countless upgrades in appearance as well, with brick dugouts, new backstop fencing and brick, a brand-new scoreboard, a batting cage with astroturf, and this year the lights that have provided night baseball for the first time in our history.
ETBU has constructed a football stadium, gymnasium, softball field and soccer field in the last 12 years. Ornelas Gymnasium opened in 1995 and is still, again in my own biased yet well-traveled opinion, probably one of the top three indoor athletics arenas in the ASC. Even half-full sometimes, the "House of Blues" might rank as the loudest game-day venues in the league with its acoustics. There have been some memorable games played in that gym the last eight years, and I can tell you when it gets rocking your ears will ring afterwards. We expect and hope for even more loud, memorable moments in there in the near future.
Taylor Field, for softball, is also one of the top game-day facilities in the conference. It too has received an upgrade in the last three years, with its brick dugouts as well as a remodeled press box/locker room. I've been asked why we need so much space up there in the press box, and I always say so that the air conditioning can cool more space! Thank God for air conditioning!
Word is that Taylor Field is in line to receive some new lights as well as a new outfield fence sometime in the near future. That will only add to its overall quality and appearance.
And finally, Tiger soccer has had its own home since 2002 in Cornish Field, which just received its official name this past fall. The soccer field sits just beyond the line of pine trees north of Ornelas Stadium, and it provides a great place for ETBU's soccer teams in the fall for both practice and games. The first couple of years here, covering soccer, were spent at what is now Anderson Sports Complex. This in itself wasn't a bad soccer facility -- the Tigers had two national champions compete there in the late 1990s of course -- but again ETBU's commitment to first-class facilities made it essential that a new, soccer-only facility be constructed. Cornish Field's spectator area was improved last season, with new permanent bleachers and landscaping added, and there are plans to renovate the bench areas and game worker/film area as well.
We are proud of our student-athletes at ETBU, and we are also very proud of the places they use for competition. I don't know if eight years qualifies one to be an expert or not, and again I'm a bit slanted in my opinion of course. But I'd put our athletic facilities up against anyone's as a group and not feel inferior in any way, shape or form. And they are only getting better.
No comments:
Post a Comment