Ain't she a pretty sight? [Archive] - SoonerFans.com Message Boards

View Full Version : Ain't she a pretty sight?

47straight

8/5/2006, 02:28 AM

http://www.soonersports.com/PhotoAlbum.dbml?PALBID=4465&DB_OEM_ID=300&PAGE_ID=&ZID=283167

http://sooner.nmn.speedera.net/pics18/400/YK/YKEFINKOIYGWNWL.20060805002259.jpg

Since71ASooner4Life

8/5/2006, 08:09 AM

Remember the old Ameritrade commercials with "Stuart" and his Dilbertesque boss who was bubbling over with excitement because he'd "Just opened his new Ameritrade Account" ? Well, having just ordered Dish Network HD package and signed up for College Gameday package I've got that same cat with feathers in the mouth excitement over the fact that I'm going to be watching all those Sooners games this year! It's rough being a Sooner fan here in the Motor City, where they think that the pathetic Gold & Blue team with their one NC is football.

SouthernSooner

8/5/2006, 09:05 AM

Here are some more pictures that I took when I visited on Vacation with my daughter back in July. I have not been back home in several years and the stadium looked completely AWWESOME. Man I wish I still lived there and I am also always looking for jobs with the OU media just in case I find something.

http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c400/drzaiusatl/OU/DSC00900.jpg

http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c400/drzaiusatl/OU/DSC00866.jpg

http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c400/drzaiusatl/OU/DSC00879.jpg

SouthernSooner

8/5/2006, 09:08 AM

A couple more........

http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c400/drzaiusatl/OU/DSC00862.jpg

http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c400/drzaiusatl/OU/DSC01586.jpg

http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c400/drzaiusatl/OU/DSC01580.jpg

8/5/2006, 09:23 AM

Amen.

TheLadiesMike

8/5/2006, 09:26 AM

Great pictures, SS!

StoopTroup

8/5/2006, 09:30 AM

http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c400/drzaiusatl/OU/DSC01586.jpg

Ahhhhh....my stomping grOUnds...

StoopTroup

8/5/2006, 09:34 AM

Hey...it looks like they cut walkways in the South Endzone walls...

Also...did they put more seating between the handicap section and the wall?

StoopTroup

8/5/2006, 09:37 AM

Nevermind...

I'm losing it I guess.

SouthernSooner

8/5/2006, 10:22 AM

I have high res versions of these pictures and a few more if anyone is interested. Be warned though, EACH picture is in excess of 4Mb, they are giant. But I will email them if you would like. Just PM me.

soonerjoker

8/5/2006, 10:28 AM

great pix !!!!!!!!!

humbletexas

8/5/2006, 10:32 AM

Any pics of Kyle Field? That's a great stadium also!

SouthernSooner

8/5/2006, 10:46 AM

Any pics of Kyle Field? That's a great stadium also!

Here you go!

http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c400/drzaiusatl/Trips/OKC%20Zoo%202006/DSC01018.jpg

fadada1

8/5/2006, 11:43 AM

Any pics of Kyle Field? That's a great stadium also!
http://img381.imageshack.us/img381/5655/wallsheeplgse8.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

Snrfn4ever08

8/5/2006, 12:13 PM

Miko

8/5/2006, 02:45 PM

Dear Santa,

In addition to the aforementioned away jersey with #12 and the name ENA, I would also like season tickets and a crimson helipcopter to fly to Norman.

I hasten to remind you that I have, thus far, been very, very, very, very, very, good and if you read the addendum to my last letter know I can explain those two incidents.

-Miko

oumartin

8/5/2006, 02:51 PM

who plays in that dump? ;)

The Ensuing Kickoff

8/5/2006, 07:08 PM

I attended OU from 89 to 93. Hello Gary Gibbs.

Anyways, I often walked around the stadium at night while I was there. During my freshman and sophomore years, I often went inside the stadium at night. They often left the gate open by the flagpoles, and if you went over by the players' tunnel on that side, there was a place where the security fence and the rail of the south stands came together at a point low enough on the right side to simply crawl over easily. The first time I did it I thought I'd get de-university-ed, but it was back then fairly accepted, I guess. (Nowadays, I think Bob would drop out of the sky and snatch you up by the shorthairs if you tried this.)

I'd go in there and study up by floodlight next to the camera cage by the old south scoreboard, or I'd run the stairs, or I'd jog on the football field (back then it was astroturf). I'd always make a point to walk out to the 50 yard line and sit for awhile, and I'd almost always highstep over the goal line doing my best Billy Sims at least once. There were almost always at least a couple of other guys in there exercising, and the weird thing is that it was usually completely dark down in the stadium and on the field, save for ambient light from the lights lighting up the south scoreboard from the outside, and you'd be running out there, and hear grunting and suddenly a big football player jogs past you. Yikes.

Anyways, the picture above of the south stands (although the old scorebard has been replaced and there is no camera cage there anymore) brings back good memories of being young, away from home for the first time, independent, and in the heart of OU football 24/7.

Boomer.

****ing.

Sooner.

King Crimson

8/5/2006, 07:14 PM

as a kid in Norman in the late 70's and 80's the gates were always open. we'd go in and toss the pigskin around on the high crowned turf all the time. get wicked turf burns from practicing our Spencer Tillman dives into the north endzone. Fieldhouse was generally always unlocked too.....for hoops.

different times.

stoopified

8/5/2006, 09:36 PM

Cool pics.

1991SOONER

8/5/2006, 10:34 PM

Heres mine!!!

http://i1.tinypic.com/23sc6pv.jpg

http://i3.tinypic.com/23sccb7.jpg

http://i5.tinypic.com/23scdh4.jpg

http://i5.tinypic.com/23sd82e.jpg

http://i5.tinypic.com/23sd9g6.jpg

soonerloyal

8/6/2006, 08:48 AM

i'm so ready for football.

BOOOOMER!!!!!!

SOONER!!!!!!

Amen! THANKS for the photos! Sure helps ease the homesickness!!

humbletexas

8/6/2006, 10:48 PM

Ha, Ha! Great one about the cow pasture..........................

Seriously though,.......you're stadium looks like a very, VERY nice parking garage......

Could anyone post pics of Kyle Field? Now, THATS a real football stadium!!!

humbletexas

8/6/2006, 10:53 PM

ANYONE?................

King Crimson

8/6/2006, 10:53 PM

humbletexas

8/7/2006, 10:27 AM

ha ha....good one.

HarrisTubbsFan

8/7/2006, 10:38 AM

sooneron

8/7/2006, 10:43 AM

just think maroon.

http://www.gunflint.com/packages/pkg_photos/tackle_box.gif
heh:texan:

jwlynn64

8/7/2006, 02:10 PM

Well, having just ordered Dish Network HD package and signed up for College Gameday package I've got that same cat with feathers in the mouth excitement over the fact that I'm going to be watching all those Sooners games this year!

I hope that you aren't getting too excited thinking of all the high def. OU games you are going to get. I was so disappointed last year that none of the Sooner games were broadcast in HD. Seems that ABC broadcasts are not done in HD. At least that was the case last year. Funny that ESPNs games were though. CBS as well.

It sucks that I was jealous of the Big 10 games.

John

SoonerObsession

8/7/2006, 02:41 PM

I remember my dad showed me where Spencer Tillman jumped from the 6 yard line into the endzone against Nebraska. I was about 11 years old and I remember thinking my dad was crazy, and that was impossible. It's still fun to watch that play to this very day.

Sooner_Havok

8/7/2006, 04:25 PM

Even when they lock up the stadium at night, you can still get in by going up the ramp right by the Switzer Center. Me and my buddy would go up there at night and turn on the TVs in the South End zone tunnels (they actually have cable on them so you could watch any channel you wanted). We found an office chair in there once and started riding it down the ramp; I only bit it two or three times. Can't go on the field anymore though, they have it wired to a security system.:(

soonernation

8/7/2006, 04:47 PM

Earliest photo of Owen Field I can find 1925
http://img307.imageshack.us/img307/2298/owenfield1925aln6.png
1940
http://img441.imageshack.us/img441/3747/owenfield1940vc6.png
1950s color photo
http://img400.imageshack.us/img400/82/owenfield1950sec3.jpg

1928
http://www.soonerstats.com/images/oms/1928.jpg

1940
http://www.soonerstats.com/images/oms/1940.jpg

1960's
http://www.soonerstats.com/images/oms/196x.jpg

1976
http://www.soonerstats.com/images/oms/1976.jpg

1992
http://www.soonerstats.com/images/oms/1993mg-1.jpg

2003
http://www.soonerstats.com/images/oms/2003.jpg

Expansions/Renovations

20??
The press box will be upgraded/expanded, according to a July 2003 radio interview with Athletic Director Joe Castiglione. Details are not available at this time.
2004

Three dimensional lettering was added to three levels of the front of the press box highlighting OU's national championships, conference championships, bowl championships and All-Americans.
New 48'-high banners were installed on both towers bookending the press box with large OU logos and images depicting the connection between the Sooner football team and Sooner fans. The Big 12 Conference logo was added on the elevator tower on the roof of the press box.
Improvements to concessions and restrooms on the west side of the stadium.
Brick facade is added to west upper deck structure.
Improvements to the Santee Lounge underneath the west upper deck.
A memorial to Oklahomans who have lost their lives in past wars (World War I, World War II, Korean War, Vietnam War, Persian Gulf) was built just outside the northwest corner of the stadium.
New grass installed.2003
East upper deck and suites, north scoreboard replaced with a Daktronics video board (scores, cheers, etc.), the south video screen and sound system are replaced, the McClendon Center for Intercollegiate Athletics (see following paragraph) is gutted and remodeled, north entry is remodeled, perimeter fence and ticket booths. Construction started after the 2001 season. The old south video board is broken down and used as scrolling update boards on the facades of the east and west upper decks.

The McClendon Center for Intercollegiate Athletics, which includes the Prentice Gautt Athletic Academic Center and Athletic Department offices for coaches, administrators and support staff provides OU the highest standard of excellence in serving student-athletes by contributing to their total university experience. Recent renovations include improvements and modernization to the study halls, classrooms and learning laboratories of the award-winning academic center.

Stadium is renamed to The Gaylord Family - Oklahoma Memorial Stadium. The Gaylords gave $50 million dollars towards the expansion/renovation in exchange for the name change.
2002
The windows on the north end of the stadium are replaced (part of the McClendon Center for Intercollegiate Athletics remodeling). The 27-year-old north scoreboard is replaced with a steel frame that will eventually be covered with brick for the new clock and video scoreboard. A temporary scoreboard is attached for use during the 2002 season.

All existing seats are replaced with aluminum benches and hard plastic chairbacks. The alternating red/white pattern from section to section is maintained except in the northwest and northeast corners and the west upper deck where red is used.

The white sections are now silver. These sections were previously an off-white/cream color.

Prior to the installation of the new seats, the concrete was covered with a gray, all-weather paint.
2001
Red brick facade is added to the retaining wall around the field.
1998
Two wheelchair-accessible ramps and seating areas are added to the lower part of the east stands (reduced capacity by approximately 2,012).

The Barry Switzer Center is opened in April.
1997
The 22-year-old south scoreboard is replaced.

Permanent lights are added to the northwest, northeast, southwest, and southeast corners. The two poles on the south end are slightly shorter than the others.
1995
Nine suites are added below the press box. Eight of the suites have a capacity of 12, and one can hold 24 (increased capacity by approximately 120, although some bench seats may have been removed during construction).
1994
Grass (prescription turf) is installed.
1981
Undesirable south end zone seats are removed (reduced capacity by 227).

Artificial turf is replaced with Super turf.
1980
South end zone facility added (increased capacity by approximately 3,817). The complex includes coaches’ offices, the weight room, meeting rooms, a training room with a walk-in whirlpool, the equipment room and two locker rooms.
The 'legs' of the free-standing south scoreboard are removed it is located at the top of the new south end zone seating. The speakers are moved to the top of the left and right columns of the press box (?).
1975
The west upper deck, press box, and two new scoreboards ($322,300), are added at a total cost of $5,726,345 (increased capacity by approximately 9,361; 8,436 according to OU).
Mid-1970s (1975?)
Original retaining wall is removed from the east and west stands, creating row 10A (increased capacity by approximately 500).
1970
Artificial turf (Astro/Tartan Turf) is installed at a cost of approximately $250,000.
1957
Permanent south end zone bleachers are added (increased capacity by approximately 6,179).
1949
Running track is removed, and the field is lowered by six feet. This adds 10 rows to the east and west stands (approximately 7,500 seats). At the same time, the north end is enclosed (total capacity increased by approximately 23,647).

The south end was not enclosed because it was thought that it would interfere with the three north-south practice fields. Later on, the location of the baseball field may have deterred any expansion (left field line would have be shortened considerably).
1929
East stands are built (62 rows, 16,000 seats). Cost of east and west stands is approximately $288,000 to $293,000.
1925
West stands are built (62 rows, 16,000 seats).
1923
East bleachers seat about 500.

Sources: University of Oklahoma

Courtesy of soonerstats.com

humbletexas

8/7/2006, 10:02 PM

Very nice...........Thanks!

But,.......any pics of Kyle Field?

badger

8/7/2006, 10:18 PM

Very nice...........Thanks!

But,.......any pics of Kyle Field?

you can sort of see it in the background in this picture, if you aren't too focused on Coach Franchy's new haircut:
https://www.aggieathletics.com/images/2005headlines/full/coachfran-closeup.jpg

musikology

8/8/2006, 04:15 AM

I used to be in the OU marching band back in the astroturf days, personally, I miss the 80 foot crown...;)

DrZaius

8/8/2006, 09:06 AM

Here is a confusing pick.....

Grandparents suck (shirt)!

http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c400/drzaiusatl/OU/DSC01584.jpg

OUstud

8/8/2006, 11:59 AM

north scoreboard replaced with a Daktronics video board (scores, cheers, etc.)

They call that thing a video board?

soonernation

8/8/2006, 12:44 PM

Any pics of Kyle Field? That's a great stadium also!

Here's one during some kind of renovation. If I find a pic that's better I'll post it.

http://www.epa.net/launch/epafls/download/filmfest_online_program_photos/toilet.jpg

Snrfn4ever08

8/8/2006, 03:11 PM

just because i'm ready for football season....

BOOMER!!!!!

poke4christ

8/8/2006, 03:23 PM

The newly renovated sections look great. Do any of you guys know if they are going to redo the press box side or put a upper deck on the endzone?

Zach