On Friday morning, as Morgan Burke reads BS with his coffee in hand ("World's Best A.D." mug, I'm assuming), we wanted to give him the solution for the South end zone at Ross-Ade that he most likely is hoping to find here on one of his favorite websites.
For those who don't remember, we posted a rendering of what the South end of the stadium could look like back in April of 2012:
As we said then, it's pretty awesome, thus it is ensured not to happen.
Well, the guy responsible for the concept is Purdue Alum Matthew Wille. Matt got in touch with us and has an updated version of his rendering, which we also wanted to share here.
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Matt has added some obvious touches, such as the P at midfield and the RR crossing sign on the Purdue tunnel side (which actually says "Boiler Crossing," in reality, I think), but he also added All American names and numbers to the south brick wall, which I have to say, is yet another fantastic touch. Much like is done in Mackey, let's remind the guys who are there of the greats that came before them. Let's remind everyone who mocks Purdue football that, yes, there actually have been quite a few legendary guys who have come through....The Furnace. (Just trying it out.)
Morgan Burke did talk in 2007 about how the Mackey renovation would put Stage II of the Ross-Ade renovations on hold -- that being the second deck on the East side of the stadium -- and that Stage III (a second deck on the North end) might never happen. Well, I would again submit that this improvement to the South end of the stadium would be far more valuable to the look and feel of Ross-Ade than any extra half-filled mezzanine would be. Note that Matt has a train up on the brick facade -- if we assume this train is stationary, why not make each car a luxury box? You've now already upped the ticket value of the entire South end, while also giving the stadium a fantastic improved look.
Make it happen, Morgan.