Anchor Drop, August 30, 2023: The stadium construction thing

Good morning.

Optional Musical Accompaniment

Kind of a slow day newswise, but this is officially getting weird:

And... what?

For some reason, blaming Vanderbilt for the media/internet reaction to FirstBank Stadium being under construction during the season is a popular move. And I don’t get it. Approximately everyone who’s been to the stadium in recent years has come away saying “this place is a dump that’s about 40 years out of date.” Hell, I was saying that in approximately 2007. It’s a tribute to Cold War-era concrete and a place where during a day game you can just sit there and bake and at a night game in November you can freeze your ass off in rain, because there’s literally nothing protecting the fans from the elements. It’s also mostly bleacher seating except for a handful of season-ticket holder seats.

This wasn’t going to require a facelift; this was going to require a major project. Instead of saying “wow, Vanderbilt is renovating their stadium? About time they did that,” the media and internet reaction has instead been “HOW DARE THEY HAVE SEATING REMOVED, BUT ESPECIALLY THE SEATS WHERE OPPOSING FANS SIT?”

As far as who’s at fault, it’s certainly not Vanderbilt’s fault that people on the internet are dumb. That said...

It doesn’t seem to be Vanderbilt fans who are the problem here. Vanderbilt has no obligation to talk to Tennessee fans, who are the biggest complainers about this (and a group that ironically includes University of Tennessee alumnus Braden Gall.)

This is, again, incredibly stupid.

In other news, men’s basketball released its nonconference schedule, though game times are not set as of yet. The main site also had an article about Tyrin Lawrence’s summer internship.

Sports on TV

All times Central.

• 7:00 AM: FIBA World Cup: China v. Puerto Rico (ESPN+)
• 7:40 AM: FIBA World Cup; Greece v. New Zealand (ESPN+)
• 8:30 AM: FIBA World Cup: Iran v. Spain (ESPN+)
• 12:00 PM: MLB: Angels at Phillies or Guardians at Twins (MLB Network)
• 3:00 PM: MLB: Padres at Cardinals or Brewers at Cubs (MLB Network)
• 3:10 PM: MLB: Astros at Red Sox (ESPN+)
• 9:00 PM: MLB: Diamondbacks at Dodgers or Braves at Rockies (MLB Network)
• 2:30 AM: FIBA World Cup: TBD v. Finland (ESPN+)
• 3:00 AM: FIBA World Cup: Angola v. TBD (ESPN+)
• 3:45 AM: FIBA World Cup: TBD v. TBD (ESPN+)
• 4:45 AM: FIBA World Cup: TBD v. TBD (ESPN+)
• 6:10 AM: FIBA World Cup: Japan v. TBD (ESPN+)

Scoreboard

MLB: Phillies 12, Angels 7 ... Yankees 4, Tigers 2 ... Rays 11, Marlins 2 ... Orioles 9, White Sox 3 ... Nationals 5, Blue Jays 4 ... Astros 6, Red Sox 2 ... Rangers 2, Mets 1 ... Guardians 4, Twins 2 ... Cardinals 6, Padres 5 ... Cubs 1, Brewers 0 ... Pirates 6, Royals 3 ... Braves 3, Rockies 1 ... A’s 3, Mariners 1 ... Giants 6, Reds 1 ... Dodgers 9, Diamondbacks 1.

FIBA World Cup: France 85, Lebanon 79 ... Australia 109, Japan 89 ... Italy 90, Philippines 83 ... Lithuania 91, Montenegro 71 ... Canada 101, Latvia 75 ... Serbia 115, South Sudan 83 ... Georgia 70, Venezuela 59 ... United States 110, Jordan 62.