I received my Daily Orange Breaking News email a few minutes ago expecting to hear truly unshocking news about fraternity party crackdowns or a school dean's dismissal. Instead, I was indeed shocked to read that "a private development firm, name unknown, recently contacted Syracuse University with plans for a new football stadium, SU athletic director Daryl Gross confirmed to The Daily Orange in a telephone interview Thursday afternoon." "Recently a private developer approached the University and expressed interest in conducting a feasibility study related to an idea they had for a new privately-financed athletic stadium," Gross wrote in a statement to The D.O. "Private developers frequently approach the University with ideas and we indicated to this developer that they could conduct a feasibility study at their own cost.
"It is very premature to consider this a University project, as this is simply a concept that has been advanced by a developer. We expect that the developer will discuss the results of their feasibility study with us once it's been completed."
I think at this point we can all agree that when DOCTOR Daryl Gross arrived at Syracuse, he hated everything about it. He hated the 44 tradition, so he scraped it. He hated our logo, so he changed it. He hated Pasqualoni, so now we have Robinson. He hated our uniforms, so they're new. And now we learn he hates the Carrier Dome, so we're getting a new stadium.
Admittedly, some of those things are good. Some are bad. But seriously, talk about making your mark on a program. Give it a couple weeks and our logo and colors will cease to be and the Syracuse Empire will be now be black and gray and we'll be referring to him as EMPEROR Daryl Gross. (Does that make Jimmy into Grand Moff Boeheim? Hope so.)
Anyway, about this stadium business. First of all, what's up with the shady NAME REDACTED corporation coming in to build it for us? Is it Haliburton and this is all classified? The Cheney Dome does have a nice ring to it and the Gitmo-style weight room is sure to be state-of-the-art.
Second, what are we talking about it...another dome? A separate basketball facility or another twofer like we have now? Personally, and maybe I'm thinking a little too pie-in-the-sky here but how bout a retractable roof? I mean, I know it can be batshit freezing in the middle of winter but I think we do miss out on playing football in the elements the way it was meant sometimes. And hey, not that I think you have any semblance of a realistic chance but if the city of Syracuse is serious about getting consideration for the Final Four or other major post-season events, you're gonna need to wow the pants off of the NCAA. And I don't think Jimmy B is in the mood anymore.
A very nice sidenote about all of this...the Ernie Davis statue is coming!
Gross also confirmed a statue of 1961 Heisman trophy winner Ernie Davis will be completed in the next six months. Private donations paid for the cost of the statue.
Just in time for his photo-op, too.