1 Official seating capacity for Foreman Field for football: 19,782.
2 Official seating capacity for Foreman Field otherwise: 20,446 (the lower rows aren't used for football because of obstructed sight lines).
3 The Monarchs will play in the Colonial Athletic Association in 2011. Until then, they are an independent.
4 Three Heisman Trophy winners - Syracuse's Ernie Davis (1961) and Navy's Joe Bellino (1960) and Roger Staubach (1963) - played at Foreman Field in Oyster Bowl games. One played there during his Heisman year. Davis and Bellino, both tailbacks, played against each other when Syracuse beat Navy 32-6 at Foreman Field in 1959. In Bellino's senior season in 1960, Navy beat Southern Methodist 26-7. Staubach was a sophomore when Navy lost to Duke 30-9 in 1961 and led Navy to a 32-9 victory over Pitt in 1962.
5 The Monarchs will play seven home games in '09, starting with their first against Chowan at 6 p.m., Sept. 5 - 100 days from today.
6 At the Football Championship Series level (previously Division I-AA), schools can give out the equivalent of 63 scholarships, split among 85 players. ODU has 33 already in school on full or partial scholarship; 18 more arrive in August. The remaining scholarships are being saved for future classes.
7 ODU has received 14,859 season-ticket applications for this season.
8 Foreman Field will have 24 luxury suites and two group sales suites.
9 ODU's first road game is Sept. 19 at Jacksonville University in Florida.
10 Of the 51 scholarship players ODU expects in camp in August, 19 are from Hampton Roads.
11 Head coach Bobby Wilder was the associate head coach and offensive coordinator at Maine before taking over at ODU.
12 Price for a single-game ticket: $20 for adults, $15 for 17 and younger, $12 per ticket for groups of 20 or more.
13 Price tag for Foreman Field renovations: $24.8 million.
14 The Monarchs will wear Nike shoes and uniforms.
15 For safety, the goalposts at Foreman Field are collapsible and operate on a hydraulic system. "All we need to do to bring them down is pull a few pins," an ODU official said.
16 Parking lots for ODU games will be open four hours in advance of kickoff.
17 Beer will not be sold in the stadium. However, those with premium sideline seating, loge seating, or sky box seating will be able to buy beer and mixed drinks in the area below the game day building. During games, those on the loge level and suite levels can order from their seats.
18 Cost to lease one of the 12 patio suites for a season: $25,000. For one of the 14 others: $20,000.
19 Defensive back Ricky Nichols, from Maury High in Norfolk, was the first player to commit to play for ODU. He wears jersey No. 1.
20 Foreman Field was named after A.H. Foreman, who was chairman of the Norfolk School Board and a member of the College of William and Mary's board of visitors. He also was a huge advocate for the Norfolk Division of the College of William and Mary, the precursor to ODU.
21 Global Spectrum, which is in charge of game-day operations, will employ 180 part-time workers on game days, from ushers to parking attendants to concessionaires.
22 There are 143 lion's paw prints stretching from the corner of Bluestone Avenue and 49th Street to the lion's fountain in front of Webb Center.
23 ODU is immediately eligible to qualify for the FCS playoffs but must receive an at-large bid.
24 In 2011, the Monarchs will be eligible for the CAA's automatic playoff berth, which goes to the league champion.
25 The Monarchs will employ the "spread" offense, essentially going from a shotgun snap on all plays and lining up with one running back in the backfield.
26 Of ODU's 65 players on the roster coming out of spring practice, 27 are from the immediate Hampton Roads area - i.e. the "757."
27 ODU will play a defensive scheme similar to the "50" alignment used by the Baltimore Ravens. It has five men on the line, with one usually dropping into pass coverage.
28 ODU expects to have a cheerleading crew of 32 for football. Cheerleading practice for the Monarchs begins with a three-day mini-camp June 5-7.
29 On the current roster, two linemen - Brandon Carr and Tobin Cameron - wear the largest helmets: size XL.
30 The playing surface at Foreman Field will be GameDay Grass 3D, produced by AstroTurf.
31 The largest publicly known gift to the school's football team was Jeff Ainslie's $1 million pledge. The game day building will be named after him. One larger gift has been made, large enough, in fact, that the stadium eventually is to be named after that donor after it's made public.
32 ODU's official jersey colors: ODU Blue (Pantone 540), ODU Silver (Pantone 877), ODU Cerulean Blue (Pantone 283), black and white.
33 In their spring team testing, the Monarchs' fastest player in the 40 was defensive back Devon Simmons (4.58). Not bad considering they were running into a 20 mph headwind.
34 Because of Title IX, ODU is committed to equal opportunities for its female athletes and has added women's rowing. Women's volleyball and softball are the next expected additions.
35 The football program's '09-10 operating budget is projected to be $2.5 million. Ticket sales will cover about $1.4 million of that; suite sales another $540,000. The difference will be covered by student fees and Big Blue Club donations.
36 ODU officials project the equivalent of 49 of the 63 available full scholarships will be used in the upcoming year.
37 Budget for recruiting expenses: $90,000.
38 The balls used in games will be almost new, with ODU's quarterbacks breaking them out of the boxes on Wednesday of game week and selecting those that feel best. Once a game ball has aged, it ends up in the practice balls bag, going from skill player usage to kicker usage and lastly to Jugs machine usage for the remainder of its life.
39 Depending on the weather, ODU's staff expects to provide six to eight game balls.
40 ODU's longest trip this season will be to Jacksonville: 548 miles each way.
41 Seeing how the football team is starting in '09, the most popular jersey for ODU fans could very well end up being No. 9.
42 No plans are in place for ODU to play against a Football Bowl Subdivision team, i.e. Virginia or Virginia Tech. The prevailing thought is ODU could begin scheduling games against FBS schools as early as 2016.
43 Beginning in 2011, school officials anticipate having at least six home games a season, four mandated by the CAA. That leaves two nonconference home games to schedule and one nonconference road game.
44 ODU will play seven home games this season, seven more in 2010. School officials thought it was necessary to play as many home games as possible the first two seasons to build the fan base.
45 Wilder's weekly radio show will air Thursday nights. The school has yet to decide on a station, a play-by-play announcer or an analyst.
46 The most expensive ticket to an ODU home game is the loge seat, a season-ticket item not sold individually or on a single-game basis. At $3,500 for four loge seats, and with seven games on the slate, that comes to $125 per game per seat.
47 A loge seat is a seat wider than the typical one at Foreman Field and has an actual back to it. All other seats are stadium bleacher seats with no backs.
48 There are 5,648 available parking spaces on campus or within walking distance of the stadium. According to studies, the average vehicle traveling to a college game carries 3.17 people. Mathematically speaking, that would account for just over 17,900 individuals at ODU for a football game. The rest? They are expected to walk from campus housing or homes in the surrounding neighborhoods.
49 While ODU is not one of the 120 teams on EA Sports' NCAA Football 2010, the video game offers a new TeamBuilder component that allows a video game player to create his own team and share with other XBox 360 and PS3 players. NCAA Football 2010 hits the market in July.
50 The little bits of rubber that are mixed in with the GameDay Grass 3D turf are called "crumbs" and are made of ground up tires.
51 Aramark will handle concessions at Foreman Field. There will be seven concession stands.
52 Better, uh, go before you go: The two sideline shells at Foreman Field have four men's rooms and two women's rooms. That's 96 stalls or urinals for the men and 34 stalls for the women. The game day building is better equipped: 18 men's stalls or urinals, 31 women's stalls and three family toilets. Event management is working on a plan to add temporary stalls.
53 ODU's new football march - "Victory for Old Dominion" - was written by band director Alex Trevino and will be unveiled this summer.
54 Live audio/video streaming of games will be available on Monarch All-Access for $7.95 a month. There are no current plans to televise games this season. An audio/video stream gives the viewer the school's radio broadcast mixed with a video telecast.
55 The old Foreman Field playing surface had a pronounced, 18-inch crown to allow for water run-off. The new surface has a 5-inch crown and a sublevel drainage system.
56 ODU will be the fifth school to start a Division I football program this decade. In 2001, Florida Atlantic went 4-6. Florida International was 5-6 in 2002, followed by Coastal Carolina (6-5 in 2003) and Campbell (1-10 last season). Of those four, Florida Atlantic's attendance was highest, at 12,987 a game; Campbell was lowest at 3,683.
57 Five other schools have announced they are starting football at the FCS level: South Alabama this fall, Georgia State and Lamar in 2010, Texas-San Antonio in 2011 and Charlotte in 2013.
58 When the Monarchs take the field Sept. 5, it will have been two years, nine months and 18 days since Bobby Wilder last coached in an actual football game.
59 ODU will play Norfolk State in 2013, and the schools expect to play yearly after that.
60 The bookstore will have tents in and around Foreman Field to sell memorabilia and jerseys, with the most prominent tent on Kaufman Mall.
61 Foreman Field originally cost $300,000 to build and was completed in 1934 as part of a Public Works project under President Franklin Roosevelt's "New Deal."
62 Foreman Field's address: 5115 Hampton Blvd., or 36* 53' 20.04" N, 76* 18' 17.56" W
63 Wilder will pick the team's captains in late August.
64 ODU has nine coaches: Wilder, recruiting coordinator and assistant head coach Chip West, offensive coordinator Brian Scott, defensive coordinator Andy Rondeau, receivers coach Keita Malloy, defensive line coach Dealton Cotton, quarterbacks coach Ron Whitcomb, running backs coach Michael Zyskowski and defensive backs coach Zohn Burden.
65 Team trainers estimate ODU will go through 20 rolls of athletic tape a game.
66 ODU's game Oct. 3 at Fordham will be the Rams' homecoming.
67 ODU will entertain N.C. Central for its own homecoming game Nov. 7. It's a 2 p.m. start, the only home game that won't begin at 6 p.m.
68 ODU becomes the eighth school in the state with an FCS program, joining Norfolk State, Hampton, William and Mary, VMI, Liberty, James Madison and Richmond, which is the defending national champion.
69 Two states - North Carolina and New York - have more FCS football programs than Virginia. Both have nine.
70 ODU is hosting three "guarantee" games this season, meaning the Monarchs are paying a stipend for a team to come to Norfolk without ODU agreeing to a return trip. Those games are against Chowan, Virginia Union and N.C. Central.
71 Wilder has databases on more than 5,000 players in the recruiting class of 2010. NCAA rules limit the typical recruiting class to 30 scholarship signees.
72 Want to look like a coach while sitting in the stands? Authentic Nike coaches sideline gear goes on sale in June.
73 The most prominent scoreboard at Foreman Field will be in the northeast corner of the stadium and will feature a video board 30 feet wide and 17 feet tall. The scoreboard itself is 52 feet by 40 feet.
74 Through the magic of technology, the video board at Foreman Field will be operated out of the Constant Center.
75 Two of ODU's opponents had winning records last season: Jacksonville was 9-4. Monmouth 7-4.
76 Coming out of spring workouts, eight states and the District of Columbia were represented on ODU's roster. Starting in the fall, that number should increase to 10 states.
77 The student seating at Foreman Field will be in the northwest corner and the north end zone. Students will enter the stadium at the northeast corner. Not coincidentally, that's the end housing the visitors' locker room. It's also the end where the visitors warm up. And if ODU finds itself in an overtime game, that will be the end zone the Monarchs will pick.
78 The Monarch March, where ODU's players walk across campus on game day, will begin near the athletic administration offices an hour and 45 minutes before kickoff.
79 Georgia Southern beat VMI 31-13 in the last Oyster Bowl game at Foreman Field in 1995.
80 The marching band is expected to have 120 to 130 members.
81 In the last college football game at Foreman Field, Norfolk State beat Virginia Union 38-0 in front of an announced crowd of 26,385 on Oct. 19, 1996. Back then, there were bleachers behind the south end zone. ODU will host Virginia Union on Sept. 12 in its second game.
82 The last player to score a TD at Foreman Field was running back John Quinerly, who rambled 53 yards. Quinerly, affectionately known as "Q," is head coach at Maury High. The man he replaced, Dealton Cotton, is ODU's line coach.
83 The first college football game played at Foreman Field was Oct. 3, 1936. Virginia beat William and Mary 7-0.
84 The Dynasty Dancers will number about a dozen for football.
85 The new stadium lights will be three times brighter than the existing lights.
86 Wilder's base salary: $150,000 per year. An additional $25,000 is paid to Wilder for TV and radio appearances.
87 A drawing of Foreman Field is featured in the John Grisham novel "The Bleachers."
88 Expect a flyover on opening day, just before kickoff. FA-18 Hornets out of Oceana, possibly?
89 Jack Ankerson, the public address announcer for ODU basketball, also will fill that duty in football. Ankerson was an all-conference quarterback at Ripon (Wis.) College and was briefly with the St. Louis Cardinals after being drafted in the 16th round in 1964.
90 School athletic trainers estimate the team will go through 20 gallons of sports drink and 40 gallons of water on a typical game day.
91 The price for parking is built into the ticket price. Premium parking closest to the stadium will be reserved for Big Blue donors and will be determined by the amount donated.
92 Season-ticket holders will select their seats using a "virtual seating" computer program that allows the purchaser to roll a mouse over the seat and check out the sight lines.
93 When preseason camp begins in August, five ODU players with state high school titles on their resumes will be there: wide receiver Reid Evans (Phoebus High, Virginia Division 5, 2006), defensive back Markell Wilkins (Phoebus, 2006 and 2008), lineman Alex Bell (Milford High, Delaware Division II, 2008), wide receiver Carlos Davis (Friendly High, Maryland 3A, 2006) and linebacker John Darr (Suitland High, Maryland Class 4A, 2006).
94 To spruce up the existing stands at Foreman Field, workers expect to go through about 3,600 gallons of paint.
95 There will be a 100-foot LED advertising board atop the game day building in the south end zone.
96 ODU's color combination - Blue pants? White jerseys? - for its opening game won't be decided until the week of the game.
97 Recruits will be entertained in a 27th suite at the west end of the game day building. The room, which also will host school functions and dinners, is directly over the Monarchs' locker room.
98 Tight end Kia Blanco and lineman Robbie Duncan wear the biggest pairs of cleats: Size 15.
99 Big Blue - or more accurately the person inside the suit - put off graduating earlier this month to participate in ODU's first year of football.
100 ODU is birthing a football program with grand designs for championships, growth and expansion. Just don't look for the Maglev to be hauling fans around campus on game days.
Rich Radford, 446-2463
rich.radford@pilotonline.com
ODU football: From 1 to 100.(Sports)
1 Official seating capacity for Foreman Field for football: 19,782.
2 Official seating capacity for Foreman Field otherwise: 20,446 (the lower rows aren't used for football because of obstructed sight lines).
3 The Monarchs will play in the Colonial Athletic Association in 2011. Until then, they are an independent.
4 Three Heisman Trophy winners - Syracuse's Ernie Davis (1961) and Navy's Joe Bellino (1960) and Roger Staubach (1963) - played at Foreman Field in Oyster Bowl games. One played there during his Heisman year. Davis and Bellino, both tailbacks, played against each other when Syracuse beat Navy 32-6 at Foreman Field in 1959. In Bellino's senior season in 1960, Navy beat Southern Methodist 26-7. Staubach was a sophomore when Navy lost to Duke 30-9 in 1961 and led Navy to a 32-9 victory over Pitt in 1962.
5 The Monarchs will play seven home games in '09, starting with their first against Chowan at 6 p.m., Sept. 5 - 100 days from today.
6 At the Football Championship Series level (previously Division I-AA), schools can give out the equivalent of 63 scholarships, split among 85 players. ODU has 33 already in school on full or partial scholarship; 18 more arrive in August. The remaining scholarships are being saved for future classes.
7 ODU has received 14,859 season-ticket applications for this season.
8 Foreman Field will have 24 luxury suites and two group sales suites.
9 ODU's first road game is Sept. 19 at Jacksonville University in Florida.
10 Of the 51 scholarship players ODU expects in camp in August, 19 are from Hampton Roads.
11 Head coach Bobby Wilder was the associate head coach and offensive coordinator at Maine before taking over at ODU.
12 Price for a single-game ticket: $20 for adults, $15 for 17 and younger, $12 per ticket for groups of 20 or more.
13 Price tag for Foreman Field renovations: $24.8 million.
14 The Monarchs will wear Nike shoes and uniforms.
15 For safety, the goalposts at Foreman Field are collapsible and operate on a hydraulic system. "All we need to do to bring them down is pull a few pins," an ODU official said.
16 Parking lots for ODU games will be open four hours in advance of kickoff.
17 Beer will not be sold in the stadium. However, those with premium sideline seating, loge seating, or sky box seating will be able to buy beer and mixed drinks in the area below the game day building. During games, those on the loge level and suite levels can order from their seats.
18 Cost to lease one of the 12 patio suites for a season: $25,000. For one of the 14 others: $20,000.
19 Defensive back Ricky Nichols, from Maury High in Norfolk, was the first player to commit to play for ODU. He wears jersey No. 1.
20 Foreman Field was named after A.H. Foreman, who was chairman of the Norfolk School Board and a member of the College of William and Mary's board of visitors. He also was a huge advocate for the Norfolk Division of the College of William and Mary, the precursor to ODU.
21 Global Spectrum, which is in charge of game-day operations, will employ 180 part-time workers on game days, from ushers to parking attendants to concessionaires.
22 There are 143 lion's paw prints stretching from the corner of Bluestone Avenue and 49th Street to the lion's fountain in front of Webb Center.
23 ODU is immediately eligible to qualify for the FCS playoffs but must receive an at-large bid.
24 In 2011, the Monarchs will be eligible for the CAA's automatic playoff berth, which goes to the league champion.
25 The Monarchs will employ the "spread" offense, essentially going from a shotgun snap on all plays and lining up with one running back in the backfield.
26 Of ODU's 65 players on the roster coming out of spring practice, 27 are from the immediate Hampton Roads area - i.e. the "757."
27 ODU will play a defensive scheme similar to the "50" alignment used by the Baltimore Ravens. It has five men on the line, with one usually dropping into pass coverage.
28 ODU expects to have a cheerleading crew of 32 for football. Cheerleading practice for the Monarchs begins with a three-day mini-camp June 5-7.
29 On the current roster, two linemen - Brandon Carr and Tobin Cameron - wear the largest helmets: size XL.
30 The playing surface at Foreman Field will be GameDay Grass 3D, produced by AstroTurf.
31 The largest publicly known gift to the school's football team was Jeff Ainslie's $1 million pledge. The game day building will be named after him. One larger gift has been made, large enough, in fact, that the stadium eventually is to be named after that donor after it's made public.
32 ODU's official jersey colors: ODU Blue (Pantone 540), ODU Silver (Pantone 877), ODU Cerulean Blue (Pantone 283), black and white.
33 In their spring team testing, the Monarchs' fastest player in the 40 was defensive back Devon Simmons (4.58). Not bad considering they were running into a 20 mph headwind.
34 Because of Title IX, ODU is committed to equal opportunities for its female athletes and has added women's rowing. Women's volleyball and softball are the next expected additions.
35 The football program's '09-10 operating budget is projected to be $2.5 million. Ticket sales will cover about $1.4 million of that; suite sales another $540,000. The difference will be covered by student fees and Big Blue Club donations.
36 ODU officials project the equivalent of 49 of the 63 available full scholarships will be used in the upcoming year.
37 Budget for recruiting expenses: $90,000.
38 The balls used in games will be almost new, with ODU's quarterbacks breaking them out of the boxes on Wednesday of game week and selecting those that feel best. Once a game ball has aged, it ends up in the practice balls bag, going from skill player usage to kicker usage and lastly to Jugs machine usage for the remainder of its life.
39 Depending on the weather, ODU's staff expects to provide six to eight game balls.
40 ODU's longest trip this season will be to Jacksonville: 548 miles each way.
41 Seeing how the football team is starting in '09, the most popular jersey for ODU fans could very well end up being No. 9.
42 No plans are in place for ODU to play against a Football Bowl Subdivision team, i.e. Virginia or Virginia Tech. The prevailing thought is ODU could begin scheduling games against FBS schools as early as 2016.
43 Beginning in 2011, school officials anticipate having at least six home games a season, four mandated by the CAA. That leaves two nonconference home games to schedule and one nonconference road game.
44 ODU will play seven home games this season, seven more in 2010. School officials thought it was necessary to play as many home games as possible the first two seasons to build the fan base.
45 Wilder's weekly radio show will air Thursday nights. The school has yet to decide on a station, a play-by-play announcer or an analyst.
46 The most expensive ticket to an ODU home game is the loge seat, a season-ticket item not sold individually or on a single-game basis. At $3,500 for four loge seats, and with seven games on the slate, that comes to $125 per game per seat.
47 A loge seat is a seat wider than the typical one at Foreman Field and has an actual back to it. All other seats are stadium bleacher seats with no backs.
48 There are 5,648 available parking spaces on campus or within walking distance of the stadium. According to studies, the average vehicle traveling to a college game carries 3.17 people. Mathematically speaking, that would account for just over 17,900 individuals at ODU for a football game. The rest? They are expected to walk from campus housing or homes in the surrounding neighborhoods.
49 While ODU is not one of the 120 teams on EA Sports' NCAA Football 2010, the video game offers a new TeamBuilder component that allows a video game player to create his own team and share with other XBox 360 and PS3 players. NCAA Football 2010 hits the market in July.
50 The little bits of rubber that are mixed in with the GameDay Grass 3D turf are called "crumbs" and are made of ground up tires.
51 Aramark will handle concessions at Foreman Field. There will be seven concession stands.
52 Better, uh, go before you go: The two sideline shells at Foreman Field have four men's rooms and two women's rooms. That's 96 stalls or urinals for the men and 34 stalls for the women. The game day building is better equipped: 18 men's stalls or urinals, 31 women's stalls and three family toilets. Event management is working on a plan to add temporary stalls.
53 ODU's new football march - "Victory for Old Dominion" - was written by band director Alex Trevino and will be unveiled this summer.
54 Live audio/video streaming of games will be available on Monarch All-Access for $7.95 a month. There are no current plans to televise games this season. An audio/video stream gives the viewer the school's radio broadcast mixed with a video telecast.
55 The old Foreman Field playing surface had a pronounced, 18-inch crown to allow for water run-off. The new surface has a 5-inch crown and a sublevel drainage system.
56 ODU will be the fifth school to start a Division I football program this decade. In 2001, Florida Atlantic went 4-6. Florida International was 5-6 in 2002, followed by Coastal Carolina (6-5 in 2003) and Campbell (1-10 last season). Of those four, Florida Atlantic's attendance was highest, at 12,987 a game; Campbell was lowest at 3,683.
57 Five other schools have announced they are starting football at the FCS level: South Alabama this fall, Georgia State and Lamar in 2010, Texas-San Antonio in 2011 and Charlotte in 2013.
58 When the Monarchs take the field Sept. 5, it will have been two years, nine months and 18 days since Bobby Wilder last coached in an actual football game.
59 ODU will play Norfolk State in 2013, and the schools expect to play yearly after that.
60 The bookstore will have tents in and around Foreman Field to sell memorabilia and jerseys, with the most prominent tent on Kaufman Mall.
61 Foreman Field originally cost $300,000 to build and was completed in 1934 as part of a Public Works project under President Franklin Roosevelt's "New Deal."
62 Foreman Field's address: 5115 Hampton Blvd., or 36* 53' 20.04" N, 76* 18' 17.56" W
63 Wilder will pick the team's captains in late August.
64 ODU has nine coaches: Wilder, recruiting coordinator and assistant head coach Chip West, offensive coordinator Brian Scott, defensive coordinator Andy Rondeau, receivers coach Keita Malloy, defensive line coach Dealton Cotton, quarterbacks coach Ron Whitcomb, running backs coach Michael Zyskowski and defensive backs coach Zohn Burden.
65 Team trainers estimate ODU will go through 20 rolls of athletic tape a game.
66 ODU's game Oct. 3 at Fordham will be the Rams' homecoming.
67 ODU will entertain N.C. Central for its own homecoming game Nov. 7. It's a 2 p.m. start, the only home game that won't begin at 6 p.m.
68 ODU becomes the eighth school in the state with an FCS program, joining Norfolk State, Hampton, William and Mary, VMI, Liberty, James Madison and Richmond, which is the defending national champion.
69 Two states - North Carolina and New York - have more FCS football programs than Virginia. Both have nine.
70 ODU is hosting three "guarantee" games this season, meaning the Monarchs are paying a stipend for a team to come to Norfolk without ODU agreeing to a return trip. Those games are against Chowan, Virginia Union and N.C. Central.
71 Wilder has databases on more than 5,000 players in the recruiting class of 2010. NCAA rules limit the typical recruiting class to 30 scholarship signees.
72 Want to look like a coach while sitting in the stands? Authentic Nike coaches sideline gear goes on sale in June.
73 The most prominent scoreboard at Foreman Field will be in the northeast corner of the stadium and will feature a video board 30 feet wide and 17 feet tall. The scoreboard itself is 52 feet by 40 feet.
74 Through the magic of technology, the video board at Foreman Field will be operated out of the Constant Center.
75 Two of ODU's opponents had winning records last season: Jacksonville was 9-4. Monmouth 7-4.
76 Coming out of spring workouts, eight states and the District of Columbia were represented on ODU's roster. Starting in the fall, that number should increase to 10 states.
77 The student seating at Foreman Field will be in the northwest corner and the north end zone. Students will enter the stadium at the northeast corner. Not coincidentally, that's the end housing the visitors' locker room. It's also the end where the visitors warm up. And if ODU finds itself in an overtime game, that will be the end zone the Monarchs will pick.
78 The Monarch March, where ODU's players walk across campus on game day, will begin near the athletic administration offices an hour and 45 minutes before kickoff.
79 Georgia Southern beat VMI 31-13 in the last Oyster Bowl game at Foreman Field in 1995.
80 The marching band is expected to have 120 to 130 members.
81 In the last college football game at Foreman Field, Norfolk State beat Virginia Union 38-0 in front of an announced crowd of 26,385 on Oct. 19, 1996. Back then, there were bleachers behind the south end zone. ODU will host Virginia Union on Sept. 12 in its second game.
82 The last player to score a TD at Foreman Field was running back John Quinerly, who rambled 53 yards. Quinerly, affectionately known as "Q," is head coach at Maury High. The man he replaced, Dealton Cotton, is ODU's line coach.
83 The first college football game played at Foreman Field was Oct. 3, 1936. Virginia beat William and Mary 7-0.
84 The Dynasty Dancers will number about a dozen for football.
85 The new stadium lights will be three times brighter than the existing lights.
86 Wilder's base salary: $150,000 per year. An additional $25,000 is paid to Wilder for TV and radio appearances.
87 A drawing of Foreman Field is featured in the John Grisham novel "The Bleachers."
88 Expect a flyover on opening day, just before kickoff. FA-18 Hornets out of Oceana, possibly?
89 Jack Ankerson, the public address announcer for ODU basketball, also will fill that duty in football. Ankerson was an all-conference quarterback at Ripon (Wis.) College and was briefly with the St. Louis Cardinals after being drafted in the 16th round in 1964.
90 School athletic trainers estimate the team will go through 20 gallons of sports drink and 40 gallons of water on a typical game day.
91 The price for parking is built into the ticket price. Premium parking closest to the stadium will be reserved for Big Blue donors and will be determined by the amount donated.
92 Season-ticket holders will select their seats using a "virtual seating" computer program that allows the purchaser to roll a mouse over the seat and check out the sight lines.
93 When preseason camp begins in August, five ODU players with state high school titles on their resumes will be there: wide receiver Reid Evans (Phoebus High, Virginia Division 5, 2006), defensive back Markell Wilkins (Phoebus, 2006 and 2008), lineman Alex Bell (Milford High, Delaware Division II, 2008), wide receiver Carlos Davis (Friendly High, Maryland 3A, 2006) and linebacker John Darr (Suitland High, Maryland Class 4A, 2006).
94 To spruce up the existing stands at Foreman Field, workers expect to go through about 3,600 gallons of paint.
95 There will be a 100-foot LED advertising board atop the game day building in the south end zone.
96 ODU's color combination - Blue pants? White jerseys? - for its opening game won't be decided until the week of the game.
97 Recruits will be entertained in a 27th suite at the west end of the game day building. The room, which also will host school functions and dinners, is directly over the Monarchs' locker room.
98 Tight end Kia Blanco and lineman Robbie Duncan wear the biggest pairs of cleats: Size 15.
99 Big Blue - or more accurately the person inside the suit - put off graduating earlier this month to participate in ODU's first year of football.
100 ODU is birthing a football program with grand designs for championships, growth and expansion. Just don't look for the Maglev to be hauling fans around campus on game days.
Rich Radford, 446-2463
rich.radford@pilotonline.com
ODU football: From 1 to 100.(Sports)
1 Official seating capacity for Foreman Field for football: 19,782.
2 Official seating capacity for Foreman Field otherwise: 20,446 (the lower rows aren't used for football because of obstructed sight lines).
3 The Monarchs will play in the Colonial Athletic Association in 2011. Until then, they are an independent.
4 Three Heisman Trophy winners - Syracuse's Ernie Davis (1961) and Navy's Joe Bellino (1960) and Roger Staubach (1963) - played at Foreman Field in Oyster Bowl games. One played there during his Heisman year. Davis and Bellino, both tailbacks, played against each other when Syracuse beat Navy 32-6 at Foreman Field in 1959. In Bellino's senior season in 1960, Navy beat Southern Methodist 26-7. Staubach was a sophomore when Navy lost to Duke 30-9 in 1961 and led Navy to a 32-9 victory over Pitt in 1962.
5 The Monarchs will play seven home games in '09, starting with their first against Chowan at 6 p.m., Sept. 5 - 100 days from today.
6 At the Football Championship Series level (previously Division I-AA), schools can give out the equivalent of 63 scholarships, split among 85 players. ODU has 33 already in school on full or partial scholarship; 18 more arrive in August. The remaining scholarships are being saved for future classes.
7 ODU has received 14,859 season-ticket applications for this season.
8 Foreman Field will have 24 luxury suites and two group sales suites.
9 ODU's first road game is Sept. 19 at Jacksonville University in Florida.
10 Of the 51 scholarship players ODU expects in camp in August, 19 are from Hampton Roads.
11 Head coach Bobby Wilder was the associate head coach and offensive coordinator at Maine before taking over at ODU.
12 Price for a single-game ticket: $20 for adults, $15 for 17 and younger, $12 per ticket for groups of 20 or more.
13 Price tag for Foreman Field renovations: $24.8 million.
14 The Monarchs will wear Nike shoes and uniforms.
15 For safety, the goalposts at Foreman Field are collapsible and operate on a hydraulic system. "All we need to do to bring them down is pull a few pins," an ODU official said.
16 Parking lots for ODU games will be open four hours in advance of kickoff.
17 Beer will not be sold in the stadium. However, those with premium sideline seating, loge seating, or sky box seating will be able to buy beer and mixed drinks in the area below the game day building. During games, those on the loge level and suite levels can order from their seats.
18 Cost to lease one of the 12 patio suites for a season: $25,000. For one of the 14 others: $20,000.
19 Defensive back Ricky Nichols, from Maury High in Norfolk, was the first player to commit to play for ODU. He wears jersey No. 1.
20 Foreman Field was named after A.H. Foreman, who was chairman of the Norfolk School Board and a member of the College of William and Mary's board of visitors. He also was a huge advocate for the Norfolk Division of the College of William and Mary, the precursor to ODU.
21 Global Spectrum, which is in charge of game-day operations, will employ 180 part-time workers on game days, from ushers to parking attendants to concessionaires.
22 There are 143 lion's paw prints stretching from the corner of Bluestone Avenue and 49th Street to the lion's fountain in front of Webb Center.
23 ODU is immediately eligible to qualify for the FCS playoffs but must receive an at-large bid.
24 In 2011, the Monarchs will be eligible for the CAA's automatic playoff berth, which goes to the league champion.
25 The Monarchs will employ the "spread" offense, essentially going from a shotgun snap on all plays and lining up with one running back in the backfield.
26 Of ODU's 65 players on the roster coming out of spring practice, 27 are from the immediate Hampton Roads area - i.e. the "757."
27 ODU will play a defensive scheme similar to the "50" alignment used by the Baltimore Ravens. It has five men on the line, with one usually dropping into pass coverage.
28 ODU expects to have a cheerleading crew of 32 for football. Cheerleading practice for the Monarchs begins with a three-day mini-camp June 5-7.
29 On the current roster, two linemen - Brandon Carr and Tobin Cameron - wear the largest helmets: size XL.
30 The playing surface at Foreman Field will be GameDay Grass 3D, produced by AstroTurf.
31 The largest publicly known gift to the school's football team was Jeff Ainslie's $1 million pledge. The game day building will be named after him. One larger gift has been made, large enough, in fact, that the stadium eventually is to be named after that donor after it's made public.
32 ODU's official jersey colors: ODU Blue (Pantone 540), ODU Silver (Pantone 877), ODU Cerulean Blue (Pantone 283), black and white.
33 In their spring team testing, the Monarchs' fastest player in the 40 was defensive back Devon Simmons (4.58). Not bad considering they were running into a 20 mph headwind.
34 Because of Title IX, ODU is committed to equal opportunities for its female athletes and has added women's rowing. Women's volleyball and softball are the next expected additions.
35 The football program's '09-10 operating budget is projected to be $2.5 million. Ticket sales will cover about $1.4 million of that; suite sales another $540,000. The difference will be covered by student fees and Big Blue Club donations.
36 ODU officials project the equivalent of 49 of the 63 available full scholarships will be used in the upcoming year.
37 Budget for recruiting expenses: $90,000.
38 The balls used in games will be almost new, with ODU's quarterbacks breaking them out of the boxes on Wednesday of game week and selecting those that feel best. Once a game ball has aged, it ends up in the practice balls bag, going from skill player usage to kicker usage and lastly to Jugs machine usage for the remainder of its life.
39 Depending on the weather, ODU's staff expects to provide six to eight game balls.
40 ODU's longest trip this season will be to Jacksonville: 548 miles each way.
41 Seeing how the football team is starting in '09, the most popular jersey for ODU fans could very well end up being No. 9.
42 No plans are in place for ODU to play against a Football Bowl Subdivision team, i.e. Virginia or Virginia Tech. The prevailing thought is ODU could begin scheduling games against FBS schools as early as 2016.
43 Beginning in 2011, school officials anticipate having at least six home games a season, four mandated by the CAA. That leaves two nonconference home games to schedule and one nonconference road game.
44 ODU will play seven home games this season, seven more in 2010. School officials thought it was necessary to play as many home games as possible the first two seasons to build the fan base.
45 Wilder's weekly radio show will air Thursday nights. The school has yet to decide on a station, a play-by-play announcer or an analyst.
46 The most expensive ticket to an ODU home game is the loge seat, a season-ticket item not sold individually or on a single-game basis. At $3,500 for four loge seats, and with seven games on the slate, that comes to $125 per game per seat.
47 A loge seat is a seat wider than the typical one at Foreman Field and has an actual back to it. All other seats are stadium bleacher seats with no backs.
48 There are 5,648 available parking spaces on campus or within walking distance of the stadium. According to studies, the average vehicle traveling to a college game carries 3.17 people. Mathematically speaking, that would account for just over 17,900 individuals at ODU for a football game. The rest? They are expected to walk from campus housing or homes in the surrounding neighborhoods.
49 While ODU is not one of the 120 teams on EA Sports' NCAA Football 2010, the video game offers a new TeamBuilder component that allows a video game player to create his own team and share with other XBox 360 and PS3 players. NCAA Football 2010 hits the market in July.
50 The little bits of rubber that are mixed in with the GameDay Grass 3D turf are called "crumbs" and are made of ground up tires.
51 Aramark will handle concessions at Foreman Field. There will be seven concession stands.
52 Better, uh, go before you go: The two sideline shells at Foreman Field have four men's rooms and two women's rooms. That's 96 stalls or urinals for the men and 34 stalls for the women. The game day building is better equipped: 18 men's stalls or urinals, 31 women's stalls and three family toilets. Event management is working on a plan to add temporary stalls.
53 ODU's new football march - "Victory for Old Dominion" - was written by band director Alex Trevino and will be unveiled this summer.
54 Live audio/video streaming of games will be available on Monarch All-Access for $7.95 a month. There are no current plans to televise games this season. An audio/video stream gives the viewer the school's radio broadcast mixed with a video telecast.
55 The old Foreman Field playing surface had a pronounced, 18-inch crown to allow for water run-off. The new surface has a 5-inch crown and a sublevel drainage system.
56 ODU will be the fifth school to start a Division I football program this decade. In 2001, Florida Atlantic went 4-6. Florida International was 5-6 in 2002, followed by Coastal Carolina (6-5 in 2003) and Campbell (1-10 last season). Of those four, Florida Atlantic's attendance was highest, at 12,987 a game; Campbell was lowest at 3,683.
57 Five other schools have announced they are starting football at the FCS level: South Alabama this fall, Georgia State and Lamar in 2010, Texas-San Antonio in 2011 and Charlotte in 2013.
58 When the Monarchs take the field Sept. 5, it will have been two years, nine months and 18 days since Bobby Wilder last coached in an actual football game.
59 ODU will play Norfolk State in 2013, and the schools expect to play yearly after that.
60 The bookstore will have tents in and around Foreman Field to sell memorabilia and jerseys, with the most prominent tent on Kaufman Mall.
61 Foreman Field originally cost $300,000 to build and was completed in 1934 as part of a Public Works project under President Franklin Roosevelt's "New Deal."
62 Foreman Field's address: 5115 Hampton Blvd., or 36* 53' 20.04" N, 76* 18' 17.56" W
63 Wilder will pick the team's captains in late August.
64 ODU has nine coaches: Wilder, recruiting coordinator and assistant head coach Chip West, offensive coordinator Brian Scott, defensive coordinator Andy Rondeau, receivers coach Keita Malloy, defensive line coach Dealton Cotton, quarterbacks coach Ron Whitcomb, running backs coach Michael Zyskowski and defensive backs coach Zohn Burden.
65 Team trainers estimate ODU will go through 20 rolls of athletic tape a game.
66 ODU's game Oct. 3 at Fordham will be the Rams' homecoming.
67 ODU will entertain N.C. Central for its own homecoming game Nov. 7. It's a 2 p.m. start, the only home game that won't begin at 6 p.m.
68 ODU becomes the eighth school in the state with an FCS program, joining Norfolk State, Hampton, William and Mary, VMI, Liberty, James Madison and Richmond, which is the defending national champion.
69 Two states - North Carolina and New York - have more FCS football programs than Virginia. Both have nine.
70 ODU is hosting three "guarantee" games this season, meaning the Monarchs are paying a stipend for a team to come to Norfolk without ODU agreeing to a return trip. Those games are against Chowan, Virginia Union and N.C. Central.
71 Wilder has databases on more than 5,000 players in the recruiting class of 2010. NCAA rules limit the typical recruiting class to 30 scholarship signees.
72 Want to look like a coach while sitting in the stands? Authentic Nike coaches sideline gear goes on sale in June.
73 The most prominent scoreboard at Foreman Field will be in the northeast corner of the stadium and will feature a video board 30 feet wide and 17 feet tall. The scoreboard itself is 52 feet by 40 feet.
74 Through the magic of technology, the video board at Foreman Field will be operated out of the Constant Center.
75 Two of ODU's opponents had winning records last season: Jacksonville was 9-4. Monmouth 7-4.
76 Coming out of spring workouts, eight states and the District of Columbia were represented on ODU's roster. Starting in the fall, that number should increase to 10 states.
77 The student seating at Foreman Field will be in the northwest corner and the north end zone. Students will enter the stadium at the northeast corner. Not coincidentally, that's the end housing the visitors' locker room. It's also the end where the visitors warm up. And if ODU finds itself in an overtime game, that will be the end zone the Monarchs will pick.
78 The Monarch March, where ODU's players walk across campus on game day, will begin near the athletic administration offices an hour and 45 minutes before kickoff.
79 Georgia Southern beat VMI 31-13 in the last Oyster Bowl game at Foreman Field in 1995.
80 The marching band is expected to have 120 to 130 members.
81 In the last college football game at Foreman Field, Norfolk State beat Virginia Union 38-0 in front of an announced crowd of 26,385 on Oct. 19, 1996. Back then, there were bleachers behind the south end zone. ODU will host Virginia Union on Sept. 12 in its second game.
82 The last player to score a TD at Foreman Field was running back John Quinerly, who rambled 53 yards. Quinerly, affectionately known as "Q," is head coach at Maury High. The man he replaced, Dealton Cotton, is ODU's line coach.
83 The first college football game played at Foreman Field was Oct. 3, 1936. Virginia beat William and Mary 7-0.
84 The Dynasty Dancers will number about a dozen for football.
85 The new stadium lights will be three times brighter than the existing lights.
86 Wilder's base salary: $150,000 per year. An additional $25,000 is paid to Wilder for TV and radio appearances.
87 A drawing of Foreman Field is featured in the John Grisham novel "The Bleachers."
88 Expect a flyover on opening day, just before kickoff. FA-18 Hornets out of Oceana, possibly?
89 Jack Ankerson, the public address announcer for ODU basketball, also will fill that duty in football. Ankerson was an all-conference quarterback at Ripon (Wis.) College and was briefly with the St. Louis Cardinals after being drafted in the 16th round in 1964.
90 School athletic trainers estimate the team will go through 20 gallons of sports drink and 40 gallons of water on a typical game day.
91 The price for parking is built into the ticket price. Premium parking closest to the stadium will be reserved for Big Blue donors and will be determined by the amount donated.
92 Season-ticket holders will select their seats using a "virtual seating" computer program that allows the purchaser to roll a mouse over the seat and check out the sight lines.
93 When preseason camp begins in August, five ODU players with state high school titles on their resumes will be there: wide receiver Reid Evans (Phoebus High, Virginia Division 5, 2006), defensive back Markell Wilkins (Phoebus, 2006 and 2008), lineman Alex Bell (Milford High, Delaware Division II, 2008), wide receiver Carlos Davis (Friendly High, Maryland 3A, 2006) and linebacker John Darr (Suitland High, Maryland Class 4A, 2006).
94 To spruce up the existing stands at Foreman Field, workers expect to go through about 3,600 gallons of paint.
95 There will be a 100-foot LED advertising board atop the game day building in the south end zone.
96 ODU's color combination - Blue pants? White jerseys? - for its opening game won't be decided until the week of the game.
97 Recruits will be entertained in a 27th suite at the west end of the game day building. The room, which also will host school functions and dinners, is directly over the Monarchs' locker room.
98 Tight end Kia Blanco and lineman Robbie Duncan wear the biggest pairs of cleats: Size 15.
99 Big Blue - or more accurately the person inside the suit - put off graduating earlier this month to participate in ODU's first year of football.
100 ODU is birthing a football program with grand designs for championships, growth and expansion. Just don't look for the Maglev to be hauling fans around campus on game days.
Rich Radford, 446-2463
rich.radford@pilotonline.com
