In Tennessee, Jason Smith notes the Univ. of Memphis' basketball court at FedExForum will have a new design which "includes the city skyline and the Hernando DeSoto Bridge." It also will "feature an enlarged Memphis Tiger at midcourt" (Memphis COMMERCIAL APPEAL, 6/28). SPORTING NEWS' Mike DeCourcy wrote schools re-designing their courts is a "putrid trend." DeCourcy: "You want to put your school’s logo or mascot -- or, for state universities, an outline of the state itself -- at center court, that’s fine. I’ll ask this, however: What’s on the middle of the court at Duke? At Kentucky? At Louisville? Can anyone picture it? We don’t talk about how their floors are designed." No one "leaves Allen Fieldhouse talking about how cool the court design is." But "they remember they were there" (SPORTINGNEWS.com, 6/26).
FEELING BLUE: In Ann Arbor, Kellie Woodhouse noted Michigan Stadium's $6M "paint job," which began in April, is "roughly half complete and will finish mid-August." A $2.8M, 48-foot-wide video marquee is "being installed now and will be fully functional by late July." Crews are "connecting it to a control room in Crisler Center." The marquee has "audio capabilities, stands 21 feet above the ground and is 27 feet tall" (ANNARBOR.com, 6/27).
RIGHT ON SCHEDULE: In New Orleans, Tammy Nunez noted in "just a couple of weeks," Tulane's Yulman Stadium's 125-foot-tall light poles "will be installed." The next phase of construction includes "erecting the steel shell of the stadium, with the west side set to be built in July." The press box and stadium seats "will come next." The stadium is scheduled to open in time for the '14 season (NOLA.com, 6/26).
MOUNTAIN MEN: Installation of a new FieldTurf playing surface at the Univ. of Wyoming's War Memorial Stadium "was completed Thursday." Features include "images of the Teton Mountains in both end zones, and the lettering '7220 Feet' along the sidelines, a nod to the stadium's NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision-leading elevation." The $750,000 cost of the project was "funded by private donations" (CASPER STAR-TRIBUNE, 6/28).
