COLUMN: Rice requires better facilities to go national

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by Tony Tran

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The football team opened its final Southwest Conference campaign with a thorough 38-0 whipping of the University of Nevada-Las Vegas. There are many high hopes surrounding this year's team with most people expecting a bowl berth.

Before the team heads off to play in the WAC though, the university needs to upgrade the stadium. It starts first and foremost with the field. With the rushing-oriented offense that Head Coach Ken Hatfield employs, the artificial surface on the stadium has to take its toll on a player's joints. What Rice needs before it enters the WAC is a newly-laid grass field.

And if it is to appear in television games, the field shown be repainted. The blue end zones look okay, but the puny "RICE" inscribed on them needs to be larger, not mention redoing the faded helmet at midfield. Better seats would also be a bonus.

Now, I will admit that the athletic office has started to upgrade the stadium with its new lights and improved weight room, but more changes are needed.

The problem does not lie with only the stadium. All the other major sports facilities could do with some changes, if not a complete makeover.

I start first with the swimming pool at Autry Court. For the past two years, the swim teams have had excellent athletes compete, especially the women's team.

However, at every single meet, both teams have had the distinct disadvantage of starting 32 points down -- from the lack of a diving team -- even before they hit the water.

I'm not sure if it's a policy of the swim team to avoid recruiting divers, but I feel that a large part of the problem is the fact that the Rice swimming pool does not support a diving board of any type.

I'd like to see the pool redone and reconfigured so as to have room for a diving board to be used not only by the swim team but by other students as well.

I move on now to the actual court itself. While the cozy surroundings of Autry Court make for a "Jungle Gym" environment which causes opponents fits, in its current state it does not help Rice recruit the big schools which add to schedule strength.

This schedule strength factor is crucial in helping the NCAA Selection Committee picks its 64-team tournament. But in the last couple of years, all the big name schools that Rice has played have been played in The Summit, which has proven to be simply too big to allow for fan support to be heard.

Rice needs a new basketball court which is more state of the art, with better lighting, an improved scoreboard and more seats. Only by building a new court, and along with that a new gymnasium, can Rice hope to attract the big schools it needs to garner an NCAA bid in the upcoming years.

In two years the men's basketball team will be composed of Bobby Crawford, Shaun Igo, Robert Jones, Jesse Cravens and Jarvis Kelley as its backbone. This team is good enough to be in the NCAAs, but without a superb gym to attract the powerhouses to play Rice, I fear that it may end up being one of those dreaded bubble teams which do not get invited due to a poor schedule.

Now we move southwestward to discuss the stomping grounds of the Rice baseball team, which finished ranked 12th in the nation last year, after a strong second-place showing in the regionals behind eventual World Series champion Cal State-Fullerton.

The field that the Owls play on is a good one, it seems. I have not heard too many complaints about it, though I have yet to step foot on it to play on it.

However, my complaint is about Cameron Field in terms of housing the fans. Simply put, there aren't enough seats. With a maximum capacity of just under 1,500, it can't be considered a first-class facility to watch baseball. I'd like to see some more seats added along the first and third base lines to increase capacity.

In comparison to Texas A&M University's and the University of Texas' baseball stadiums, Cameron Field could cover the area behind home plate -- maybe even less. It simply is not worthy of supporting one of the nation's best 15 teams.

Down the line, it'd be nice for Rice to host a regional in the College World Series. We have a good enough team to do that, and to get some national respect, we have to have a facility that is nice enough and large enough to host a regional.

Finally, I'd like to see some changes that affect the facilities -- not just for the athletes but also for the student body. This means better equipment in the weight room at Autry Court.

While the brand-new equipment has been impressive and a welcome sight, there could definitely be more weights, Stairmasters and bicycles. Perhaps the answer is opening up the brand-new weight room, slated to be completed by December, to the general student body.

With Rice heading to the WAC next year, the university jumps from a conference based solely in the state of Texas to a superconference of 16 teams which encompass a geographical range stretching to as far west as Hawaii and to as far north as Wyoming.

Rice clearly is headed toward the national scene. While it has always been well-regarded in academic circles nationally, it now heads for national prominence, if not for its success in athletics, then for the fact that it's in the largest conference ever.

In the upcoming years, Rice will experience some of its finest years in athletics, if not during this year. It is heading toward success in both academics and athletics -- a balance craved by many yet achieved by very few (Michigan, Duke and Notre Dame come to mind).

However, before Rice can take its step forward, it must upgrade its facilities from the $1 Rice Stadium, whose field hasn't been replaced in 10 years, to the small, cramped gymnasium which many teams claim as their home.

This item appeared in the Sports section of the September 8, 1995 issue.

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