Sam Boyd Stadium is far from the best stadium in FBS. It is also not the worst. Another thing to consider is the stadium was first built in 1971. There have been improvements made since you were there in 2012. A new scoreboard was installed in 2014. It is twice the size of the old scoreboard, and is digital. Easy to see and read, unlike the main scoreboard when you were there in 2012.
Landscaping stones and grass were also added around the locker room buildings at the open end of the stadium and interior walls of the club section were painted. I now it's not much, but it's better than nothing. With funding from the state legislature for the proposed new stadium project shelved until at least 2017, UNLV is faced with an unenviable situation. The long term goal is a new stadium. But, the current stadium is in need of upgrades. The parking areas are awful, especially the gravel/chunks of concrete/chunks of blacktop/chunks of who knows what area. With us getting so little rain, having grass parking areas is not a problem. It rained yesterday and is raining today. First rain since Sept 28th.
Getting in and out of the parking lots is a nightmare. The stadium is in a residential area, bordered by the wetlands park and not too far away a mountain. Not sure there is much of anything that can be done about that? I do know that RTC(public transit) built a new terminal on the UNLV Campus. Students can purchase a round trip bus ticket to SBS for a cost of $4. For non students, the standard fare of $2.00 for one way ticket or $5 for all day pass apply. This is a special route just for game days. It is an express route, and takes 15-20 minutes. There is a regular, fixed route that goes near the stadium, but this is separate from that route.
This route is the 602. This route has only a few stops for people to get on/off, so probably takes 20-25 minutes at most if going from The Strip. Route goes from SBS to the intersection of E Tropicana and Las Vegas Blvd(intersection where MGM, NY-NY, Excalibur are located). It does a small loop near LV Blvd that takes it dow to Mandalay Bay. There are 14 stops, which seems like alot. However, all but 3 of the stops are between UNLV Campus and the strip. If going from The Strip, once past UNLV campus, the 3 stops are all in the area near SBS, including one right in front of the stadium. Reason for the stops between UNLV Transit Center and Strip are for connecting bus routes. This eliminates the issue of parking and getting out of the stadium after the game, and also means if one drinks to much alcohol at the game, no concerns over driving while intoxicated
There is another route that has only 3 stops, but runs in a loop and does not come anywhere near UNLV or the Strip.
The stadium could use new seats, as what they have now are very hard and worn out. At least they have backs though on the bleacher seats. There is not a bad spot in the stadium from which to watch the game. Concessions are not great, but reasonably priced. Bathrooms, as with many older stadiums could use upgrades. The problem is all of the things I've mentioned would run into the millions of $$. And, if an on campus stadium does get built, SBS could well be torn down. Especially with the plan being to have the new stadium be a multi-use stadium.
UNLV is in the process of a $50-60 MILLION renovation of Thomas & Mack Center, which was built in the early 80's. As in many states, the way public education is funded in Nevada is outdated. It also favors the Northern part of the state for K-12, as they use a funding model from like the 70's, when Las Vegas had about the same population as Ytown. And, as far as funding when it comes to the 2 public, 4 year colleges, UNR is favored over UNLV. We may as well be our own state here in Clark County. 2.2 MILLION people in a state with population of $3 MILLION. And, a little over 2 MILLION people live in Las Vegas Metro area.
As far as hiring Sanchez, when this idea was first floated, my reaction was similar to yours. I even used the Gerry Faust fiasco at ND and Akron on the UNLV message board as an example why this is a bad idea. Sanchez is a good comparison to Faust, because he is at a Catholic School that dominates high school football in Nevada. Their facilities are on par with alot of FCS and some FBS schools. The exception would be capacity of football stadium(about 6,000) and gymnasium. The school building used now is at most 5 years old. Money is not an issue at BG for their sports teams. And, they recruit. Part of the recruiting is done by the program. Snoop Dogg moved to Vegas this summer so his son, Cordell Broadus could attend BG this year. He did so to get more exposure from college coaches.
BG now plays 6 out of state teams, and then the 4 games required against teams in their section. BG is ranked #1 by both MaxPreps and USA Today. Have not lost to a team from Nevada in 6 years. And, they are equally as good in basketball, and just about every sport. Inbee Park, the #1 ranked player on the LPGA Tour is a graduate of Gorman. This year, they played the following 6 teams non-conference:
Brophy College Prep(Phoenix, AZ)....Gorman won 44-0... Brophy is 10-4, ranked 6th in Arizona and 231 Nationally by Max Preps
@ Servite(CA) won 48-27...Servits is down this year and finished 4-7...ranked #26 in Cali and #259 Nationally
Bingham High School (Utah, in Salt Lake area...Gorman won 23-20.... Bingham is 13-1...ranked 15th Nationally by Max Preps and #1 in Utah
Centennial (Corona, CA)...won 43-42.... Centennial is 11-2....ranked #8 Nationally by Max Preps and #2 in Cali
Santa Margarita(Santa Margarita, CA).... BG won 41-10... Margarit finished 6-5...ranked #23 in CA and #218 Nationally
ST, John Bosco(Bellflower, CA)...BG won 34-31.... Bosco is 12-1.... #1 in CA and #4 Nationally
Sanchez has been HC at Gorman since 2009...record is 70-4
I'm telling you all of this, because you started the thread, and this is relevant to the thread. Bobby Hauck had 9 very successful years at Montana. In 5 years at UNLV, had 4 seasons of 2 wins, and last years miracle season of 7-6 with loss in Heart of Dallas Bowl.... HC before him was Mike Sanford, current HC of Indy State. His overal record was 8-32 in 5 years... most games won in a season was 3.
So, how can things possibly get worse for UNLV football bu hiring Sanchez? Especially if it means TENS of MILLIONS of $$$$$$$ donated by the Fertitta family to UNLV? There aren’t many people in Las Vegas with more money than the Fertitta family. According to Forbes they are estimated to be worth $2.6 billion, and are the 89th richest family in the country. If Sanchez is a flop, then he is gone in 4-5 years. But, all the money donated, and everything done with the money remains at UNLV. Sanchez is well liked in the community, has alot of contacts, and he knows how to recruit. Yes, recruiting for high school is different than for FBS college, but it is still recruiting. Also, I hear coaches and players say all the time that "football is football". Sanchez has also coached in Texas, California and New Mexico.
Here is a link to the facility BG built with money donated by the Fertitta Family. Not hard at all to see why UNLV would be willing to hire Sanchez, if it means money for facility upgrades.
http://www.bggaelsfootball.com/football-gormans-new-facility-trumps-even-universities..."Funded solely by the donations of the Fertitta brothers -- Frank and Lorenzo are Gorman graduates, heirs to their father's Station Casinos business and UFC owners -- Gorman's 41,324-square-foot athletic training center opened in July.The facility features a 90-seat classroom for game film study, a hydrotherapy pool and ice bath, an 11,500-square-foot weight room with an indoor four-lane, 60-yard track and a locker room that puts to shame those of the Rebels and Wolf Pack. The second floor hosts banquets and houses the championship trophies. It also features a balcony that overlooks the football field. A 40-yard digital LED board hangs from the balcony. At the donors' request, Gorman officials have not released the project's cost. The final price tag for the athletic training facility is rumored to be in the $20 million range."...
Images of BG's stadium and training facility
