THE IUP Football Thread

[iupgroundhog]

I was past it when I was at IUP. Places that survive change..and Johnstown just seems to want to back in time instead of figuring out what it can be in a new form.

I hated it when the student charter buses took 56 through Johnstown to go back to Indiana instead of the 220 to 22 to 422 route.

I think the population of Johnstown in the year 1900 was almost 100,000. Today, it's like low 20's.

Edit: Actually, I just checked this and the peak population was 67k in the 1920 Census. In 2024, the pop. of Johnstown is 17k.

[iupgroundhog]

I recently saw one of those click bait lists of places on the internet called "10 of the most beautiful cities in Pennsylvania." So, of course, I clicked on it. Johnstown was on the list!

AI generated, I guess. Or maybe just A.

[iupgroundhog]

I was past it when I was at IUP. Places that survive change..and Johnstown just seems to want to back in time instead of figuring out what it can be in a new form.

I hated it when the student charter buses took 56 through Johnstown to go back to Indiana instead of the 220 to 22 to 422 route.

When I would drive from the East to Indiana I would always take Rt. 56. I actually like that road. But going through Johnstown always reminded me of Soviet Eastern Europe. The burnt out industrial relics and then you have the Eastern Orthodox churches along the way.

[iupgroundhog]

Yes its technically a suburb called Richland. Separate school district, too. Johnstown is a lot like Youngstown and Bethlehem, although Bethlehem is more adjacent to people and stronger communities. Economy was too centered around one industry that has pretty much up and left making them look like giant ghost towns. The mafia bringing the drug trade in has made some parts of Youngstown as dangerous as some parts of Chicago.

Bethlehem is not like Johnstown and Youngstown. Bethlehem is a thriving city, part of the ABE corridor. Bethlehem has a lively restaurant and shopping community. It has some historical tourism. It has Lehigh University, Moravian College and others. The old Bethlehem Steel plant is converted to a popular casino, a destination.

[Fightingscot82]

I was past it when I was at IUP. Places that survive change..and Johnstown just seems to want to back in time instead of figuring out what it can be in a new form.

I hated it when the student charter buses took 56 through Johnstown to go back to Indiana instead of the 220 to 22 to 422 route.

Yes its technically a suburb called Richland. Separate school district, too. Johnstown is a lot like Youngstown and Bethlehem, although Bethlehem is more adjacent to people and stronger communities. Economy was too centered around one industry that has pretty much up and left making them look like giant ghost towns. The mafia bringing the drug trade in has made some parts of Youngstown as dangerous as some parts of Chicago.

[Fightingscot82]

Who knew there was a convention center in Monroeville?

There has been for decades. The Monroeville Expo-Mart was slowly rented out to for-profit career schools before eventually being taken over by CVS Caremark. Then someone converted a large two story furniture store just around the corner to the current thing that's now being converted to a Hobby Lobby. The problem with the former was that you had this weird thing where a road drove through the building and you had to cross said road to get from the parking to the building entrance. The problem with the latter is that there is virtually no parking and the lots they have are an absolute cluster.

[IUPNation]

The area up on the hill (near UPJ) is pretty nice. I'm not sure if it's actually considered Johnstown or not. It's several miles 'up the hill' from downtown.

If you want something vintage, go to an event at the War Memorial. It hasn't changed a bit since Slap Shot was filmed there.

I was past it when I was at IUP. Places that survive change..and Johnstown just seems to want to back in time instead of figuring out what it can be in a new form.

I hated it when the student charter buses took 56 through Johnstown to go back to Indiana instead of the 220 to 22 to 422 route.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

It’s just sad in Johnstown. They just need to knock down the whole town and rebuild. It could be pretty there with the hills..like how Downtown Pittsburgh looks nice…

The area up on the hill (near UPJ) is pretty nice. I'm not sure if it's actually considered Johnstown or not. It's several miles 'up the hill' from downtown.

If you want something vintage, go to an event at the War Memorial. It hasn't changed a bit since Slap Shot was filmed there.

[IUPNation]

I've been to the Johnstown War Memorial several times. It isn't fun leaving. Johnstown (downtown) isn't quite a ghetto, but, it's close.

You quickly forget about Slap Shot and Paul Newman.

It’s just sad in Johnstown. They just need to knock down the whole town and rebuild. It could be pretty there with the hills..like how Downtown Pittsburgh looks nice…

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Indiana isn’t depressing like Johnstown either.

I've been to the Johnstown War Memorial several times. It isn't fun leaving. Johnstown (downtown) isn't quite a ghetto, but, it's close.

You quickly forget about Slap Shot and Paul Newman.

[IUPNation]

It's done very well. The main competition is the War Memorial in Johnstown (which is decades past its prime). The KCAC is far nicer, has better parking, lots of hotel options, etc.

The facility in Johnstown is also pretty sketchy to leave after dark.

I do think the KCAC could hold way more music shows than it does now. The KCAC also has a nice (smallish) theater with stage inside. Most people don't know it's there. It seats several hundred. They put the bigger acts in the arena.

Indiana isn’t depressing like Johnstown either.

[IUPNation]

Off-topic, but the Monroeville Convention Center announced it is closing this summer, and several of their booked events said they're reaching out to the KCAC. That's good for IUP and Indiana.

Who knew there was a convention center in Monroeville?

[Fightingscot82]

Interesting little item: Indiana High's Anthony Kowchuck signed with ... California

He's a good athlete (and was stuck on a horrible team). Not sure what position he'll play in the Mon Valley. He's 6'5" and about 200 lbs. He played just about everything at IHS except QB.

I couldn't find any indication IUP recruited him.

Perfect message board fodder.

Something anecdotal I noticed on the Bird App this recruiting cycle was the lack of overlap in past years with recruiting. I don't know if that's teams prioritizing transfers over high schoolers or what - but I saw VERY few kids holding offers from the entire PSAC West like was the norm in past years. I can't think of one kid who I saw had offers from the big three: Cal, IUP, and Rock. Every once in a while those kids would end up signing with the also-rans of the division, which is how I'd notice them. Of the dozens of kids I saw advertising Edinboro offers, only a handful also had offers from those big three programs, and only one had offers from 2 of the 3 (he chose Slippery Rock over Edinboro and IUP).

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Interesting little item: Indiana High's Anthony Kowchuck signed with ... California

He's a good athlete (and was stuck on a horrible team). Not sure what position he'll play in the Mon Valley. He's 6'5" and about 200 lbs. He played just about everything at IHS except QB.

I couldn't find any indication IUP recruited him.

[Fightingscot82]

It's done very well. The main competition is the War Memorial in Johnstown (which is decades past its prime). The KCAC is far nicer, has better parking, lots of hotel options, etc.

The facility in Johnstown is also pretty sketchy to leave after dark.

I do think the KCAC could hold way more music shows than it does now. The KCAC also has a nice (smallish) theater with stage inside. Most people don't know it's there. It seats several hundred. They put the bigger acts in the arena.

The challenge is that Indiana is just out of the way enough and there are some comparable venues closer to Pittsburgh like UPMC at RMU, Cooper at Duquesne (rarely does shows anymore), Stage AE indoors, and the refurbished Roxian in McKees Rocks. Plus the Pittsburgh market is already getting skipped on tours so they may be getting what they can get.