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Show Page48A - THE HERALD, Provo, Utah, Thursday, August SO. 1984 BYU's pressbox wasn t named best by every media representative, but the only detracting comment about it was the fact that the crowd noise is shut out so that writers miss some of the feel of the game. Olher than that, every writer thought BYU's place had the best working facilities and was the most impressive. In ranking the press boxes from one through nine, BYU came out way ahead with Wyoming, New BYU not only is the favorite to win the WAC football championship, but in the opinion of most of the writers who cover WAC teams, the Cougars also have the best home away from home for the working press. During the WAC Skywriters trip, the media representatives who cover games in each city were asked to rate the press boxes from a working newspaperman's or telecaster s or radioman's point of view. Writers Praise ress Box Mexico and UTEP (the Sun Bowl) tied for second. San Diego State (Jack Murphy Stadium), Air Force and CSU all tied behind them. Utah was rated eighth and Hawaii (Aloha Stadium) ninth. To explain: Utah was given good marks for the fact it is close to the action and easy to watch without binoculars. But the working space is too jammed. Hawaii plays its games in municipally-owned Aloha Stadium which is a beautiful place and has y Stadium Top Notch Mather I Visiting sportswriters call it "The BYU Marriott" and that isn't far wrong. It's real name is Cougar Stadium and it ranks as one of the best collegiate football palaces in the nation. Walk through the stadium gates and into the stands and it exudes an aura of big time. It seats 65,000, making it the biggest in the Western Athletic Conference. But even more amazing is the fact it has been sold out for every game in each of its three years (including this fall). In 1983 a record 323,858 fans watched BYU's five home games. e The average of 64,771 ranked near the top 20 in the country in attendance. When it was announced the old stadium would be expanded to 65,000 seats athletic director Glen Tuckett and physical plant director Harold Anderson visited football stadiums across the country and the result is a combination of the best in the land. Among its nmany features are a natural-tur- f playing surface, a box-boconfiguration and a four-lev- SKI AND SPORTSWEAR Into Df Spidiiitgytoul t seuweag mm m. per-gam- el press box. 0 Expansion efforts from the seat "old stadium" included 35,-00- lowering the field eight feet, adding end zone seating, constructing the press box and adding box seating. More than 15,000 yards of concrete were used in construction. Each end zone contains about 4.3 million pounds of steel and seats about 15,000 people. The playing field has a special drainage system capable of handling up to 13 inches of rain per hour. The system was developed by some former Utah State University students who were working at Purdue. The press box is what has touched the hearts and minds of visiting writers. It runs the entire length of the west stands and is more than 10 stories high. It contains 42 lodges booths capable of seating 12 people each) on the first two levels. The third level is reserved for working media and the fourth is a TV deck. Three VW Si PfldOS fti uy a UEirs wouens jonions Oiraimd Of vmlm f TW MEW WChimMBl SHELL JACKETS 'N I I POWDEB PARKAS REGULARLY 8000 - M 0800 $1 0000 - NOW 1 $2995 . $3985 $3g3S 11000 - 14000 .$4995 WW$39.9S J0HI0B PABKAS PQWDEBSDITS iSmic & BIBS 5000 NOW POWDEBSHIBTS 48.ors now$29.05 now$82.5B SAT0BDAY, SlliAY & iltfiAY $19.20 $17.60 AT ALL FIU 3m . 1st, 2hd & LDGAIIDHS! QGBEN GEEM KIVEBIALE CENTEI PAHKWAY CENTER 4113 So. Riverdale Road 244 East 1300 South elevators carry guests to the box. The Football Writers of America cited BYU for its "Outstanding Press Box Working Area." The single game attendance record is 65,215, set last fall against Utah. Cougar Stadium is the 24th largfootball facility in est the country and fourth largest university-owne- d stadium in the West, trailing only Stanford, California and Arizona State. on fnsfs rs EVERYTHING (glass-enclose- press Karen's m CI0SSI8ABS PLAZA 3rd Level 5? MBHAY PAIX CITY 5130 South State 608 Main Street |
