Reitz Bowl @ 100!

[Griffco76]

Take a look at newly re-turfed Reitz Bowl! She's 100 years young and never looked better! Thank you, EVSC on Facebook for this fantastic flyover!

https://www.facebook.com/EVSC1/videos/206512801403498/

 

[OldHatchetHog76]

There isn't any place like it in Indiana. My favorite HS football stadium in Indiana.

[MHSTigerFan]

29 minutes ago, OldHatchetHog76 said:

There isn't any place like it in Indiana. My favorite HS football stadium in Indiana.

I couldn’t agree more.  There are nicer, newer, bigger, and fancier HS football stadiums in the state.  But there isn’t another one quite like the Bowl.  It is to Indiana HS football about what Fenway Park is to baseball.

The Bowl started life as an architecturally necessary retaining wall.

Edited August 4, 2021 by MHSTigerFan

[oldunclemark]

5 hours ago, Griffco76 said:

Take a look at newly re-turfed Reitz Bowl! She's 100 years young and never looked better! Thank you, EVSC on Facebook for this fantastic flyover!

https://www.facebook.com/EVSC1/videos/206512801403498/

 

I live 5 hours and about 240 miles from you, Griff...and I will never get to the Reitz Bowl

 

Tell me about the Reitz Bowl.

Why was a football stadium built in 2021?.   Who played there?  How mnny schools play there now.  What's the capacity.

Whats the river behind the stadium. ?

 

Tell me about the Reitz Bowl.

[MHSTigerFan]

6 hours ago, oldunclemark said:

I live 5 hours and about 240 miles from you, Griff...and I will never get to the Reitz Bowl

 

Tell me about the Reitz Bowl.

Why was a football stadium built in 2021?.   Who played there?  How mnny schools play there now.  What's the capacity.

Whats the river behind the stadium. ?

 

Tell me about the Reitz Bowl.

It began as a retaining wall dug into the hill upon which Reitz High School sits.  Shortly after it was created, somebody suggested it would be a good venue for a football stadium.  The main grandstand is concrete that goes nearly halfway around the field.  There is also a smaller visitor bleacher opposite.

It seats about 10,000.  Both Reitz and Mater Dei play their home games there.  UE once played their home games there as well.  It also played home to the “Refrigerator Bowl” postseason college football game.

The river you see is the nearby Ohio.  There are some great elevated views of the river from atop the Bowl.

[oldunclemark]

1 hour ago, MHSTigerFan said:

It began as a retaining wall dug into the hill upon which Reitz High School sits.  Shortly after it was created, somebody suggested it would be a good venue for a football stadium.  The main grandstand is concrete that goes nearly halfway around the field.  There is also a smaller visitor bleacher opposite.

It seats about 10,000.  Both Reitz and Mater Dei play their home games there.  UE once played their home games there as well.  It also played home to the “Refrigerator Bowl” postseason college football game.

The river you see is the nearby Ohio.  There are some great elevated views of the river from atop the Bowl.

What I meant to say was 'Why was a giant football stadium, built in 1921 in a basketball state?     'the nearby Ohio" is what?. ....The Ohio River runs between Kentucky and Indiana?  Again...5 hours..240 miles away.  Never been there. How far are you from Louisville?.

the Bowl looks like a small college stadium.    Nobody up here can fill a 10,000-seat stadium  The largest stadium up here is Merrillville, 7,200.  Most schools are 2,000 to 5,000

How old are Reitz and Mater Dei?. Up here Lowell, Crown Point and Valparaiso go back to the 1890s.  In the early 1900s, Lowell played Crown Point twice a season because< I believe, there was no one else to play. 

 

 

[Titan32]

29 minutes ago, oldunclemark said:

What I meant to say was 'Why was a giant football stadium, built in 1921 in a basketball state?     'the nearby Ohio" is what?. ....The Ohio River runs between Kentucky and Indiana?  Again...5 hours..240 miles away.  Never been there. How far are you from Louisville?.

the Bowl looks like a small college stadium.    Nobody up here can fill a 10,000-seat stadium  The largest stadium up here is Merrillville, 7,200.  Most schools are 2,000 to 5,000

How old are Reitz and Mater Dei?. Up here Lowell, Crown Point and Valparaiso go back to the 1890s.  In the early 1900s, Lowell played Crown Point twice a season because< I believe, there was no one else to play. 

 

 

http://www.evansvilleliving.com/articles/gridiron-history

[Cappy]

Try this out for information on the bowl... I believe the Grids very own @Rudywould know about everything Reitz and Reitz Bowl related.

Reitz Bowl (reitzfootball.com)

[Cappy]

1 hour ago, oldunclemark said:

Nobody up here can fill a 10,000-seat stadium 

Doesn't happen often but it does happen, when Reitz is good and especially if Reitz and Mater Dei are good the crowd can exceed 10,000. I think it has held 12k or 13k on occasion.

[fenderbender]

1 hour ago, oldunclemark said:

What I meant to say was 'Why was a giant football stadium, built in 1921 in a basketball state?     'the nearby Ohio" is what?. ....The Ohio River runs between Kentucky and Indiana?  Again...5 hours..240 miles away.  Never been there. How far are you from Louisville?.

the Bowl looks like a small college stadium.    Nobody up here can fill a 10,000-seat stadium  The largest stadium up here is Merrillville, 7,200.  Most schools are 2,000 to 5,000

How old are Reitz and Mater Dei?. Up here Lowell, Crown Point and Valparaiso go back to the 1890s.  In the early 1900s, Lowell played Crown Point twice a season because< I believe, there was no one else to play. 

 

 

Mater Dei was built in 1949, so the rivalry is not as old yours.  (Memorial was the first Catholic high school in Evansville.)

 

 

[oldtimeqb]

2 hours ago, MHSTigerFan said:

The river you see is the nearby Ohio.  There are some great elevated views of the river from atop the Bowl.

Back in the day, HS boys would take their girlfriends up there at night to watch the submarine races in the Ohio River.

I can neither confirm nor deny this rumor.

Edited August 4, 2021 by oldtimeqb

[TigerFan20]

Back in 2017, the Memorial vs Reitz game had around 10,000 people at it, since both teams were undefeated 

[Staxawax]

3 hours ago, oldunclemark said:

What I meant to say was 'Why was a giant football stadium, built in 1921 in a basketball state?     'the nearby Ohio" is what?. ....The Ohio River runs between Kentucky and Indiana?  Again...5 hours..240 miles away.  Never been there. How far are you from Louisville?.

the Bowl looks like a small college stadium.    Nobody up here can fill a 10,000-seat stadium  The largest stadium up here is Merrillville, 7,200.  Most schools are 2,000 to 5,000

How old are Reitz and Mater Dei?. Up here Lowell, Crown Point and Valparaiso go back to the 1890s.  In the early 1900s, Lowell played Crown Point twice a season because< I believe, there was no one else to play. 

 

 

Get off your arse and make the drive down highway 41. Words cannot do it justice. You must see it to fully appreciate it.

[Bash Riprock]

The Purple Aces played there for a few years correct?  If I remember correctly, UE is about 5 miles away...actually very close to Memorial HS.  Shame they no longer have a football program.  At that time, was UE Div 2 for football?

[tango]

16 hours ago, Griffco76 said:

Take a look at newly re-turfed Reitz Bowl! She's 100 years young and never looked better! Thank you, EVSC on Facebook for this fantastic flyover

I like how the soccer field lines are black and don't stand out as much.  Do you know if the EVSC replaced the lights?

[MHSTigerFan]

27 minutes ago, tango said:

I like how the soccer field lines are black and don't stand out as much.  Do you know if the EVSC replaced the lights?

They did not replace the lights.  But they need to badly.  Foot Candle levels are way below industry standards at almost every point of the playing field.

Even Enlow is better lit.

[Football Fanatic]

23 minutes ago, tango said:

I like how the soccer field lines are black and don't stand out as much.  Do you know if the EVSC replaced the lights?

Agreed, the black lines were a great choice. The field looks great, especially the end zones. To my knowledge, there is no current plans to change the lights, unfortunately.

[MHSTigerFan]

4 hours ago, Cappy said:

Doesn't happen often but it does happen, when Reitz is good and especially if Reitz and Mater Dei are good the crowd can exceed 10,000. I think it has held 12k or 13k on occasion.

I can’t remember which year it was, but it was during the McIntosh era.  Both Reitz and MD were either undefeated or close to it.  If the bowl could’ve accommodated 15,000 fans, they could have sold it out.  Everybody in town was talking about it, and those who had tickets would let you know about it.

Reitz would go on to win the 4A championship that year.  Maybe the best team in SIAC history — certainly of the last 30 or 40 years.

[Football Fanatic]

51 minutes ago, MHSTigerFan said:

I can’t remember which year it was, but it was during the McIntosh era.  Both Reitz and MD were either undefeated or close to it.  If the bowl could’ve accommodated 15,000 fans, they could have sold it out.  Everybody in town was talking about it, and those who had tickets would let you know about it.

Reitz would go on to win the 4A championship that year.  Maybe the best team in SIAC history — certainly of the last 30 or 40 years.

Also in 2015, when both Reitz and MD were undefeated and ranked #1 in their respective classes, it was completely packed as well. The environment and buzz from that type of crowd at the high school level is unmatched.

[Impartial_Observer]

I’ve been to several games there and it’s hands down the best HS FB venue in the state. Looking forward to working my first game there this year. 

[oldunclemark]

7 hours ago, Staxawax said:

Get off your arse and make the drive down highway 41. Words cannot do it justice. You must see it to fully appreciate it.

I wont ever see it in person, Stax. I'm 98 1/2 years old .  

I'm busy every weekend 10 months a year.   My car has a quarter of a million miles on it.   I'm never getting there. 

Tell me about the Reitz Bowl. What YOU think not some prepared history.

(and Stax, by the way, I went to Jasper for a Little League championship a generation ago. The game ended at about 10 and I made the mistake of driving west to US 41 instead of East back to I-65. 

Once I wandered through two-lane roads in the dark and the haze to US 41, I slogged back on one of the less driver friendly roads in the southern part of the state.  6 a.m. That's when I got back.

I give a no thanks to US 41. If I ever get to the bottom of the state again, I'm going to find I-65 to come back.🥺

 

[oldunclemark]

10 hours ago, Titan32 said:

http://www.evansvilleliving.com/articles/gridiron-history

This is very good stuff, Titan. Thank you very much.

Everybody should read this.

I didnt now know that high school kids were not REQUIRED to stay in school until they were 16.

Reitz used to sit on 'Cole Mine Hill'?  I love it.?

[oldunclemark]

9 hours ago, Cappy said:

Try this out for information on the bowl... I believe the Grids very own @Rudywould know about everything Reitz and Reitz Bowl related.

Reitz Bowl (reitzfootball.com)

This is very good, Cappy.

The Reitz Bowl had lights in 1931!!!!

My grandparents didnt have lights in the house in 1931😃

[Cappy]

2 hours ago, oldunclemark said:

This is very good, Cappy.

The Reitz Bowl had lights in 1931!!!!

My grandparents didnt have lights in the house in 1931😃

I’ve been to a few great games at Reitz Bowl but I have a favorite. During Reitz’s state title run in 2007 Mr Football Paul McIntosh had 451 yds of total offense and 7 TDs in a 61-60 Regional win over Columbus East. Yes 61 -60!!!

I don’t know what the attendance was for that game but the bowl was FULL!! If I remember correctly it was a Saturday day game and CE had a lot of talent! 

[Staxawax]

6 hours ago, oldunclemark said:

I wont ever see it in person, Stax. I'm 98 1/2 years old .  

I'm busy every weekend 10 months a year.   My car has a quarter of a million miles on it.   I'm never getting there. 

Tell me about the Reitz Bowl. What YOU think not some prepared history.

(and Stax, by the way, I went to Jasper for a Little League championship a generation ago. The game ended at about 10 and I made the mistake of driving west to US 41 instead of East back to I-65. 

Once I wandered through two-lane roads in the dark and the haze to US 41, I slogged back on one of the less driver friendly roads in the southern part of the state.  6 a.m. That's when I got back.

I give a no thanks to US 41. If I ever get to the bottom of the state again, I'm going to find I-65 to come back.🥺

 

Well, you're only as old as you feel.  I get a feeling you feel a whole lot younger than your age!

Attended a regional championship game @ the Reitz Bowl in 2005 (Avon 42 Evans. Reitz 35). It is indeed the best and most historic venue in the state. And even had Reitz won that game, I would still feel the same way.