In San Diego, Dennis Lin notes despite flooding at Petco Park on Monday, the ballpark's grounds crew "laid sod over a third of the field" yesterday morning. A Padres spokesperson said that for a "period during Monday’s historic downpour, the water 'was draining slower than it was coming down.'" The temporary pond at Petco Park reportedly "rose to calf level" (SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE, 3/1).
THE LOUD HOUSE: In Syracuse, Chris Carlson notes Syracuse Univ. held an open forum for its students and faculty members to "discuss future campus renovations but offered no new information on the Carrier Dome." The Carrier Dome "will be upgraded as part of SU's campus framework and given a permanent roof." SU "has not announced what other improvements will be made during the renovation, what the building will ultimately look like or provided a potential timetable" (Syracuse POST-STANDARD, 3/1).
GET COZY: ESPN.com's Max Olson reported Oklahoma State's Boone Pickens Stadium will have 3,400 fewer seats this season "due to a renovation of 25 sections of the stadium that will widen the seats." The move "makes sense," because as attendance figures "decline around the country, administrators have to do some serious thinking about the fan experience." It takes most people "a lot of money and effort to get to a college football game, and nobody wants to pay good money to sit in a cramped seat for three or four hours" (ESPN.com, 2/28).
