Rayen Stadium Opening

[jay]

This west side resident attended the opening game at Rayen Stadium today.  How many north side Forum members were there?

It's a great new facility.

I also have some suggestions for a better operation.

Parking
The parking situation was atrocious.  The parking lot filled quickly,  People were parking on both sides of the streets, the lawns of St. Ed's Church, and even blocked driveways.  The police had to call tow trucks to remove several vehicles from the corner of Ohio and Benita.

Walkway Congestion
There is ample space in front of the press box.  A little to the south the walkway narrows to about 10 feet wide between the two fences.  With people standing along the fence at the top of the bleachers, north/south walking traffic was at a crawl.

Concession Stands
Lines going into the concession stand comingled with the people entering the stadium at the front gate.  The food concession line also blocked easy access to the restrooms.

The condiment station was a mess.  The ketchup squeeze bottle was filthy with ketchup residue running down the sides.  Pump ketchup and mustard bottles, like the ones they have at YSU, would make the condiment station more sanitary.

The concession stands ran out of cold drinks part way through the game.  They eventually got more drinks but the drinks were warm.

Recycling Containers.
If recycling containers were there, I didn't notice them.  I observed trash cans overflowing with plastic drink bottles by the end of the game.

PA System
The public address system was OK except for the obnoxious announcer.

Need For Shade
This was a 2:00 p.m. game.  It was 80+ degrees and sunny.  People were roasting.  A person to the south of me collapsed and had to be taken away by medics.  It was so hot that even the referees were calling timeouts so both teams could get hydrated.

[Rushblvd]

Oh Mary- The difference between UHS and Mooney..UHS wll root for Mooney when playing oher teams. The Cards may want to pick up on that 
Just sayin

[Towntalk]

Urusline rallied from an 18-0 halftime deficit to beat Youngstown East 41-24 in the Panthers home opener at the newly renovated Rayen Stadium.

The Panthers opened the scoring on a 51-yard touchdown run by Derrick Tensely to take a 6-0 lead.

Jamir Humphrey's 28-yard pass to James Merchant for another touchdown and the Panthers pushed the advantage to 12-0.

The same duo hooked up again later in the first half on a 15-yard scoring strike as East built an 18-0 halftime lead.

But once the teams returned from the locker room, it was all Irish, scoring 34-unanswered poitsn.  It started in the third quarter when Ursuline's Jermaine Williams returned a punt 88yard for a touchdown to make it 18-6.

Later in the quarter, Tremaine Thigpen scored from a yard out to help the Irish pull to within six at 18-12.

In the fourth quarter, Thigpen's five yard touchdown run tied the game at 18-18.

Later in the 4th, Thigpen found the endzone again to give the Irish the lead, scoring on a 31-yard touchdown run.  Urusline converted a 2-point conversion as well to take a 26-18 lead.

Then Chris Durkin rattled off a 61-yard touchdown run to extend Ursuline's lead to 34-18.

But on the ensuing kick-off, Tensley returned it 90 yards for the score, cutting the margin to 34-24.

Ursuline tacked on another TD late to earn the 41-24 win.

[Mary_Krupa]

Hurray, it opened up and it was a nice facility, nice day and nice crowds!  And, I do mean crowds. They said it was a sellout.  It was exciting to be part of all of this energy.

It was fun to see Dr. Hathorne throw out the first pass to former councilman Dick Atkinson. It was nice to see all the young people having a good time in the city. And, it seemed like there were more adults than young people, and all having a good time.  I am glad I went. I ended up rooting for East since I graduated from Mooney and cannot root for Ursuline!

Now for my recommendations:

1.  Trees, trees and more trees. Please plant some and soon. Shade is desperately needed.

2.  The PA system was great and so was the scoreboard. However, we could hear neither East's band playing the national anthem nor Ursuline's at half time. May as well not even have been there playing since you couldn't hear them.

3.  Crowd flow. It was shear misery trying to walk through the crowds at the top of the stands. I'm sure it was much worse for the people with strollers and in wheel chairs.  It is WAAAAAAAY too narrow.

4.  Concession sales need to move faster.

[jay]

First Football Game At Rayen Stadium

Saturday, August 25, 2:00 p.m.

Ursuline High School vs East High School

[Rushblvd]

UHS vs. EAST

[jay]

How many north side Forum members are going to attend the first football game in the new Rayen Stadium?

[jay]

I've heard that the Rayen Stadium will open next week with a ceremony and football game.