Posts Tagged ‘Construction’

A teaser of sorts…

Video: Sneak Peak at the New Jumbotron

Man, I can’t wait until kickoff…

– So it goes

Video(s) Courtesy of:   UT Sports.com

Nice little video tour of the renovations at Neyland Stadium including a walk through of the renovated Skyboxes.

Video:  Neyland Renovations Top to Bottom

via:  Go VolsXtra

And of course there is the new Jumbotron:

Click Image to Bigify

Man, I think I just wet myself…

Yes, Gate 21 is “Moving on Up“…

Found at bee mp3 search engine

Gate 21 Version 2.0

It was a chore, it took far longer than it should have, and—in terms of substance—it amounts little more than putting lipstick on the pig, but here it is.  After weeks of gnashing my teeth at CSS and html which refused to do what I wanted it to do, I am pleased to announce the debut of the new and improved Gate 21.  For those of you have been around these parts before, you can see that things look a bit different.

After nearly two years of the same basic layout, I decided it was time to do a little remodeling here at the Gate.  One thing led to another and “a little remodeling” turned into me completely redesigning the Gate from the top to the bottom.  Yes, though it was a faithful servant, I have sacked the old iLeather theme that was the mainstay here are the Gate for so long.  In its place is the new completely custom look which took me far longer to pull together and design than I ever dreamed was possible.

Everything is new again (that doesn’t mean, however, that it is actually any better though … sigh.).

There are still some kinks to be worked out here and there and there are a few new content areas I hope to roll out in the coming days, but—for the most part—the project that has eaten up nearly every second of my time over the past few weeks is finally done.  Hopefully, both of you out there that regularly visit will like it.  If not, well, that’s what the comments box is for—I welcome any and all criticism.

At any rate, just to give everyone the 50-cent tour.  The main changes are … well … everything.  The highlights, however, include:

• New page and category bars at the top which feature fancy-schmancy drop-down menus.  Hopefully, that will make it easier for everyone to find what they are looking for.
• Gus, our trusty mascot here at the Gate, underwent some major plastic surgery and—all things considered—looks a bit better as a result.
• No, the rather massive blogroll that has been a staple here at the Gate did not disappear, it simply moved down to the footer to help make things a little cleaner and less cluttered.  Everything is organized by subject and the whole list (at least in theory) will now expand and collapse at a click.
• The typography is new as well, hopefully improving readability.
• I added a little more “visual direction” to the header so that people who have never been to Neyland Stadium might actually be able to figure out that the name “Gate 21” actually refers to the Real Gate 21 and have some idea of what it looks like
• Oh yeah, and following the lead of the Blackjack General (a/k/a “Lane Kiffin”), I decided to adopt a darker overall look with more black—especially in the background.

At any rate, I hope that these changes improve the experience here at the Gate.  I hope these changes make it look a little nicer.  I hope the whole site doesn’t crash and burn as I finish up converting all of the old content around here over to make it play nice with the new design.  Either way, please feel free to let me know if you like it, hate it, or could care less.  If there is something that isn’t working properly, is hard to read, or simply annoying, feel free to let me know that too.  Though Gate 21 version 2.0 is now here for the entire world to see, it is still a work in progress, so any feedback is appreciated.

At any rate, here it is in all of its radiant glory—the new Gate 21.

I do sincerely hope you like it…

– So it goes…

Just in case you were wondering, I have not abandoned the Gate this week.  In fact, I have been working harder on this joint this week than I have in months.  Unfortunately, all of that work has been behind the scenes…

…for the moment.

Let’s just say that I am taking advantage of the current off-season lull to make a few changes around here and to do a bit of remodeling.  Let’s just call it “Gate 21 — 2.0.”  Hopefully, all of this work will not be for naught.  Hopefully, I’ll be done with this marathon soon.  Hopefully, there will still be more than three people around to read once I bring the changes live.  Who knew this whole “blogging thing” would be so much work?

In the meantime, I’ll just leave you with this little visual representation of where this ship is headed.  Trust me, this is but one very small part of what I have in store for everyone in the near future:

The Changing Face of the Gate…

November 2007	February 2008	?? July 2009 ?? (I sure hope so)

Hopefully, I will actually get a little chance to write a few things here this weekend which I have had to put off a bit.  Yeah, yeah … excuses, excuses.  At any rate, please bear with us—there are exciting things to come in the near future.

In the meantime, just try to remember that Gate 21 does exist, and check back with us soon…

– So it goes…

Gate 21 is Currently Experiencing Server Problems

(a/k/a Lawvol must have screwed things up)

For anyone out there who reads, views, rips-off, hacks, or otherwise visits the Gate, please be advise that we are experiencing rather massive technical difficulties at present which intermittently result in the site simply not appearing.  Thus, if you attempt to visit the Gate and instead are greeted by an offer of hosting services from Host-I-Can, then you know that the problem is not yet fixed.

I am in the process of trying to figure out what the issue is and to fix it.  Until then, however, please bear with us as we try to sort out the mess that is my creation.  We appreciate your patience and (hopefully) I will have them resolved soon.

Until then, if for any reason Gate 21 does not appear when you attempt to navigate to the site, please try again a few minutes later. Sorry for the inconvenience.

With any luck, we’ll be back up to our usual low standards as soon as possible (we really, really, hope)…

» Updated:  9 June 2009 — 2:30pm

The problems appear to have been fixed.  Thus, you can return to your regularly scheduled aimless wandering throughout the Gate.  Thanks for your patience.

– So it goes

For those of you who are not in Knoxville, you may not realize that, at present, Neyland Stadium is undergoing major renovations as part of the Neyland Stadium Master Plan.  Currently, crews are hard at work on the construction of the West Stadium Club, new Skybox, and renovations to the West upper concourse.  All of this is to be done prior to the 2009 kickoff.  After that, Neyland will undergo additional renovations as the Tennessee Terrace gets set to debut along with a completely renovated Gate 21 plaza (I know, I’m so freakin’ excited I can hardly stand it).  As the Master Planning documents make abundantly clear, once all of the renovations are complete, Neyland Stadium will truly be a showplace as both a venue and as an icon on the landscape of college sports.

For now, however, it looks a bit rough…

Actually, it sort of looks like someone set off a bomb somewhere near the intersection of Phillip Fulmer Way and Peyton Manning Pass … a big one.

Anyway, my fellow Gate-ian (if Shakespeare can make up words I can too) “Home Sweet Home” decided to go out and document the state of the stadium for everyone — with his camera.  Thus, below are a few shots to show you exactly how the Home of the Vols looks at present, giving you a chance to see the View From the Hill … err … the view from the Speech Pathology Building.

Click Images to Bigify

All photos by Home Sweet Home / Gate 21

As you can see, Neyland has looked better, but take heart, there are great things on the horizon.

The New Entrance to Neyland Stadium

In the meantime, I wouldn’t be scheduling any stadium tours…

– So it goes

Master Plan Image Courtesy of: UT Athletic Department / MHM || Statement on Fair Use