|
Post by Pakachoag Phreek on Apr 8, 2022 15:54:16 GMT -5
4 PM October 8.
Bolding mine
The annual game at Polar Park is being titled the EBW classic.
|
|
|
Post by longsuffering on Apr 8, 2022 17:26:01 GMT -5
Let's continue to host the FCS playoff opening round to give Fitton Field five days of use per year.
|
|
|
Post by HC92 on Apr 8, 2022 20:16:14 GMT -5
Kind of feel like half the fun of playing at Polar Park is to play under the lights. 4:00 start not ideal imho.
|
|
|
Post by longsuffering on Apr 8, 2022 21:31:45 GMT -5
Sunset is scheduled for 6:17PM on 10-8-22. Lights will be on during garbage time, er, I mean the second half.
|
|
|
Post by bfoley82 on Apr 9, 2022 5:51:01 GMT -5
Give it another two years before the novelty wears off on watching football in a baseball park.
|
|
|
Post by gerry on Apr 9, 2022 6:22:14 GMT -5
The WooSox final regular season game in September 25. If they make the playoffs, how could they possibly get the field ready for football on October 8? I'm guessing Bucknell was chosen as that game would likely be the one with the smallest crowd, but that is really cutting things close.
|
|
wstruz71
Climbing Mt. St. James
Posts: 82
|
Post by wstruz71 on Apr 9, 2022 6:30:37 GMT -5
I have been a season ticket holder for at least 45 years. I did not go to last year's game at Polar Park, and I have no intentions of going to this year's game. Outside of being a novelty, it is unclear why a football game is being played at Polar Park. In addition, Fitton Field has a seating capacity of 23,500, but yet, only 4 regular season games are being played there. Why have a large capacity stadium for so few games? One thing I notice about Holy Cross athletic teams, in general, is that they play more away games than home games. If football is on the upswing, there should be more home games at Fitton Field. Otherwise, tear it down, and construct a smaller stadium with lights.
|
|
|
Post by ndgradbuthcfan on Apr 9, 2022 7:28:05 GMT -5
If I make the 2 1/2 hour trek from the Outer Cape to Worcester, it will be to attend a game at Fitton.
|
|
|
Post by HC92 on Apr 9, 2022 9:44:41 GMT -5
I have been a season ticket holder for at least 45 years. I did not go to last year's game at Polar Park, and I have no intentions of going to this year's game. Outside of being a novelty, it is unclear why a football game is being played at Polar Park. In addition, Fitton Field has a seating capacity of 23,500, but yet, only 4 regular season games are being played there. Why have a large capacity stadium for so few games? One thing I notice about Holy Cross athletic teams, in general, is that they play more away games than home games. If football is on the upswing, there should be more home games at Fitton Field. Otherwise, tear it down, and construct a smaller stadium with lights. Having only 4 games per year there would be a reason to continue to play in the existing one rather than tear it down and spend a bunch of money on a new one.
|
|
|
Post by hc89 on Apr 9, 2022 9:47:22 GMT -5
The Polar Park game last year was a blast. Fun venue. Great crowd. Fantastic concessions. Lots of people there who would not otherwise go to a game- including many “seasoned” alums. Seemed like a great experience for our players and coaches. If it’s a “novelty”, so be it! I am a season ticket holder and I love the tailgates at Fitton Field but I appreciate Holy Cross trying new things with Athletics- the Polar Park game is a hit in my book.
|
|
|
Post by thecrossisback on Apr 9, 2022 9:59:22 GMT -5
Give it another two years before the novelty wears off on watching football in a baseball park. No Holy Cross can get bigger crowds at Polar Park then other northeast teams. The no fun police strikes again. It's not consider cool because Foley says so therefore stop doing it! Can't take shots at the football team because they are to good but he can where they play games.
|
|
|
Post by Pakachoag Phreek on Apr 9, 2022 10:12:15 GMT -5
Kind of feel like half the fun of playing at Polar Park is to play under the lights. 4:00 start not ideal imho. Bucknell probably insisted on an early start. They can be out of Worcester by 8 PM, and in Lewisburg by 1 AM or so. It was posted on this board in the distant past that PL teams are reluctant to travel long distances for night games against. league opponents; either two overnights or Circadian rhythm issues. Dollars to donuts this will be a Parents Weekend game.
|
|
|
Post by longsuffering on Apr 9, 2022 10:20:04 GMT -5
Kit gushing that this is now HC's annual game at Polar Park reminds me of FADNP arriving and committing HC to the annual Turnpike Trophy competition.
Now we are locked in at Polar. If HC pulls out we are welshing on the city and if it stops being a sell out, expect it to become a mandatory part of the season ticket package.
Other than that, a fun place to play under lights we didn't have to buy and install. And becoming a little closer to being Worcester's Team is very positive.
|
|
|
Post by HC92 on Apr 9, 2022 10:29:47 GMT -5
Kind of feel like half the fun of playing at Polar Park is to play under the lights. 4:00 start not ideal imho. Bucknell probably insisted on an early start. They can be out of Worcester by 8 PM, and in Lewisburg by 1 AM or so. It was posted on this board in the distant past that PL teams are reluctant to travel long distances for night games against. league opponents; either two overnights or Circadian rhythm issues. Dollars to donuts this will be a Parents Weekend game. No dollars or donuts for you. Parents weekend is last weekend of October. A lot of parents did not like not being able to tailgate on Saturday last year. I think that’s the funnest part of Parents Weekend for many.
|
|
|
Post by mm67 on Apr 9, 2022 10:37:22 GMT -5
Kit gushing that this is now HC's annual game at Polar Park reminds me of FADNP arriving and committing HC to the annual Turnpike Trophy competition. Now we are locked in at Polar. If HC pulls out we are welshing on the city and if it stops being a sell out, expect it to become a mandatory part of the season ticket package. Other than that, a fun place to play under lights we didn't have to buy and install. And becoming a little closer to being Worcester's Team is very positive. Bucknell is a fine PL opponent best suited for Fitton. But Bucknell at Polar Park? You gotta'a be kidding. Schedule UMass, Harvard, UNH and the like and Worcester fans will come to Polar Park. These opponents would generate a much greater pre & post game vibe, excitement(?) in the local media. It would be an"event." Again, this is another example of poor planning, a limited vision. Some might say Bush League.
|
|
|
Post by longsuffering on Apr 9, 2022 10:40:59 GMT -5
Kind of feel like half the fun of playing at Polar Park is to play under the lights. 4:00 start not ideal imho. Bucknell probably insisted on an early start. They can be out of Worcester by 8 PM, and in Lewisburg by 1 AM or so. It was posted on this board in the distant past that PL teams are reluctant to travel long distances for night games against. league opponents; either two overnights or Circadian rhythm issues. Dollars to donuts this will be a Parents Weekend game. Good insight. After Paul Harvey died you could have taken over his "And now you know the rest of the story" radio segment.🙂 Polar Park is made for a UMass/HC true night game. As long as UMass stinks it might not be that smaller a crowd than if held at Fitton or McGuirk. I think the last night game between these teams at Fitton drew more than Polar holds, but college FB attendance is generally down since then. Attendance at UMass home games last year against URI and Maine were only 7,664 and 5,331. Let the Minutemen be the home team/sponsor of the game so they don't have to lose face as an FBS team playing at an FCS school.
|
|
wstruz71
Climbing Mt. St. James
Posts: 82
|
Post by wstruz71 on Apr 9, 2022 10:52:37 GMT -5
I have been a season ticket holder for at least 45 years. I did not go to last year's game at Polar Park, and I have no intentions of going to this year's game. Outside of being a novelty, it is unclear why a football game is being played at Polar Park. In addition, Fitton Field has a seating capacity of 23,500, but yet, only 4 regular season games are being played there. Why have a large capacity stadium for so few games? One thing I notice about Holy Cross athletic teams, in general, is that they play more away games than home games. If football is on the upswing, there should be more home games at Fitton Field. Otherwise, tear it down, and construct a smaller stadium with lights. Having only 4 games per year there would be a reason to continue to play in the existing one rather than tear it down and spend a bunch of money on a new one. IMO a 23,500 seat stadium for only 4 games is hardly worth it. How many FCS schools have football stadiums of this size or more? Holy Cross is the minority. Even New Hampshire and Rhode Island do not have stadiums. of this size. I know half the Ivy League schools have big stadiums, but they play 5 home games a year. Look at FBS UConn. As bad the football team is and with low attendance, they are playing 6 or 7 home games a year. I would expect to see Holy Cross playing 6 home games a year.
|
|
|
Post by longsuffering on Apr 9, 2022 11:21:48 GMT -5
Having only 4 games per year there would be a reason to continue to play in the existing one rather than tear it down and spend a bunch of money on a new one. IMO a 23,500 seat stadium for only 4 games is hardly worth it. How many FCS schools have football stadiums of this size or more? Holy Cross is the minority. Even New Hampshire and Rhode Island do not have stadiums. of this size. I know half the Ivy League schools have big stadiums, but they play 5 home games a year. Look at FBS UConn. As bad the football team is and with low attendance, they are playing 6 or 7 home games a year. I would expect to see Holy Cross playing 6 home games a year. Yes, it wouldn't be worth it to pay $200 million for a 23,500 seat stadium today.🙂. We can't compete with UConn's home schedule because we don't have $475,000 guarantee checks to write to FCS teams to come to Fitton. We have to go home and home with FCS opponents and away at FBS schools while banking their big check and using it to retain Chesney & staff. We might possibly leverage a 1-1-1 home, neutral, away series with a Bryant, Merrimack or (shudder) Stonehill with Polar Park being the neutral field. I can't think of other realistic opportunities to increase home games.
|
|
|
Post by bigfan on Apr 9, 2022 11:28:15 GMT -5
Please don't get rid of Fitton Field. Too many memories, games with BC, Syracuse, Penn State , Yale and Harvard and Dartmouth. I also believe that 5 or 6 games every year is possible.
|
|
|
Post by longsuffering on Apr 9, 2022 11:33:32 GMT -5
Please don't get rid of Fitton Field. Too many memories, games with BC, Syracuse, Penn State , Yale and Harvard and Dartmouth. I also believe that 5 or 6 games every year is possible. Agree Fitton is a treasure. What schools would you target to give up the corresponding home game ordinarily due them after they travel to Fitton?
|
|
|
Post by nycrusader2010 on Apr 9, 2022 12:11:23 GMT -5
Kit gushing that this is now HC's annual game at Polar Park reminds me of FADNP arriving and committing HC to the annual Turnpike Trophy competition. Now we are locked in at Polar. If HC pulls out we are welshing on the city and if it stops being a sell out, expect it to become a mandatory part of the season ticket package. Other than that, a fun place to play under lights we didn't have to buy and install. And becoming a little closer to being Worcester's Team is very positive. Bucknell is a fine PL opponent best suited for Fitton. But Bucknell at Polar Park? You gotta'a be kidding. Schedule UMass, Harvard, UNH and the like and Worcester fans will come to Polar Park. These opponents would generate a much greater pre & post game vibe, excitement(?) in the local media. It would be an"event." Again, this is another example of poor planning, a limited vision. Some might say Bush League. I think the idea is to generate incremental interest. Because of the excitement factor of playing downtown, you don't need to schedule a big name team to fill the stadium. Last year I believe we sold out Polar Park against a Colgate team that wasn't supposed to be very good (they certainly weren't good that night). I expect a 4pm start against Bucknell should at least come close to duplicating that. We should be drawing 10K+ at Fitton for the likes of Harvard, Yale and UNH. So no reason to move the game. I would also worry about playing a stronger opponent at a "neutral" site and giving up a little bit of home field advantage. But I think the Colgate game showed we weren't lacking in that dept. UMass definitely wouldn't play us at Fitton, slim chance they'd play us at Polar. But if they'd be willing to do it, that would be great as well. Note that back when we were both FCS, our last series against the Minutemen drew crowds of 12-15K both in Worcester and Amherst. Obviously, interest at UMASS is in the toilet relative to when they were a I-AA national title contender.
|
|
|
Post by bfoley82 on Apr 9, 2022 12:57:19 GMT -5
Bucknell is a fine PL opponent best suited for Fitton. But Bucknell at Polar Park? You gotta'a be kidding. Schedule UMass, Harvard, UNH and the like and Worcester fans will come to Polar Park. These opponents would generate a much greater pre & post game vibe, excitement(?) in the local media. It would be an"event." Again, this is another example of poor planning, a limited vision. Some might say Bush League. I think the idea is to generate incremental interest. Because of the excitement factor of playing downtown, you don't need to schedule a big name team to fill the stadium. Last year I believe we sold out Polar Park against a Colgate team that wasn't supposed to be very good (they certainly weren't good that night). I expect a 4pm start against Bucknell should at least come close to duplicating that. We should be drawing 10K+ at Fitton for the likes of Harvard, Yale and UNH. So no reason to move the game. I would also worry about playing a stronger opponent at a "neutral" site and giving up a little bit of home field advantage. But I think the Colgate game showed we weren't lacking in that dept. UMass definitely wouldn't play us at Fitton, slim chance they'd play us at Polar. But if they'd be willing to do it, that would be great as well. Note that back when we were both FCS, our last series against the Minutemen drew crowds of 12-15K both in Worcester and Amherst. Obviously, interest at UMASS is in the toilet relative to when they were a I-AA national title contender. UMass and UNH at Gillette drew over 30k in 2010 and then in 2011 dropped to 24k. The novelty wears off
|
|
|
Post by thecrossisback on Apr 9, 2022 13:57:54 GMT -5
Bucknell is a fine PL opponent best suited for Fitton. But Bucknell at Polar Park? You gotta'a be kidding. Schedule UMass, Harvard, UNH and the like and Worcester fans will come to Polar Park. These opponents would generate a much greater pre & post game vibe, excitement(?) in the local media. It would be an"event." Again, this is another example of poor planning, a limited vision. Some might say Bush League. I think the idea is to generate incremental interest. Because of the excitement factor of playing downtown, you don't need to schedule a big name team to fill the stadium. Last year I believe we sold out Polar Park against a Colgate team that wasn't supposed to be very good (they certainly weren't good that night). I expect a 4pm start against Bucknell should at least come close to duplicating that. We should be drawing 10K+ at Fitton for the likes of Harvard, Yale and UNH. So no reason to move the game. I would also worry about playing a stronger opponent at a "neutral" site and giving up a little bit of home field advantage. But I think the Colgate game showed we weren't lacking in that dept. UMass definitely wouldn't play us at Fitton, slim chance they'd play us at Polar. But if they'd be willing to do it, that would be great as well. Note that back when we were both FCS, our last series against the Minutemen drew crowds of 12-15K both in Worcester and Amherst. Obviously, interest at UMASS is in the toilet relative to when they were a I-AA national title contender. Bucknell at Fitton doesn't draw at all. The only problem with 10k at Fitton Yale brings 200 people Harvard brings 100 Look at the last few times at Fitton there was nobody on the away side. UNH does bring fans.
|
|
|
Post by HC92 on Apr 9, 2022 14:05:23 GMT -5
Having only 4 games per year there would be a reason to continue to play in the existing one rather than tear it down and spend a bunch of money on a new one. IMO a 23,500 seat stadium for only 4 games is hardly worth it. How many FCS schools have football stadiums of this size or more? Holy Cross is the minority. Even New Hampshire and Rhode Island do not have stadiums. of this size. I know half the Ivy League schools have big stadiums, but they play 5 home games a year. Look at FBS UConn. As bad the football team is and with low attendance, they are playing 6 or 7 home games a year. I would expect to see Holy Cross playing 6 home games a year. My point is that the existing stadium is already paid for so it doesn’t need to be “worth it” based on current schedule or crowds. The question is whether it would be worth it to do something different than play in the stadium that is already paid for.
|
|
|
Post by hc87 on Apr 9, 2022 15:09:29 GMT -5
Odd (in a lot of ways) schedule next season....we won't have a 2nd game at Fitton until Oct 29.
I'm assuming that probably has to make Yale on 9/17 the Homecoming Game.
Of the scheduled home games, Bucknell probably does make the most sense for the PP game. I get the thinking behind this game but as I've stated before, I'd prefer temporary lights for one game at Fitton rather than a game at PP.
|
|