Our Administration definitely made the right call that day. If the stands had fallen and people were severely injured or killed, the school would have never recovered. It is likely that the Football program would have been clear ESD down as a result.
“Closed down”
They were erected to appease UT because we wouldn’t play at the dome. Then UT cried until they got condemned. They were fine.
I went out there onto the campus, slipped right thru the chain link fence gates and walked up to the top of those rickety bleachers. I could feel them moving and shaking with just me alone walking up the steps. You couldn’t have paid me enough money to sit up there alone for the ballgame, much less with several hundred rowdy UT fans. No way Jose!
I drove to Robertson to see the temporary bleachers prior their being declared unsafe and was stunned at what I saw. The ground they were erected on looked extremely unstable, and I was convinced the entire setup wouldn’t pass an inspection. Thank goodness they weren’t used, or we may have had a major catastrophe on our hands.
Bleachergate was on Sat. Sep. 22, 2001 – 11 days after the 9/11 tragedy.
Everyone was shocked & scared after 9/11 – So scared there were no airlines flying the 1st week & the college and pro football games were all cancelled that weekend – Sat. 9/15 & Sun. 9/16 – Folks were afraid of attacks on stadiums.
It had rained a lot the week before the game and the bleacher’s metal footings, on wood blocks on wet ground, looked sketchy.
No one was taking ANY risks — So these rickety-looking bleachers on muddy ground were kept empty. Understandable, IMO.
Fans with bleacher tickets (mostly UT) were invited to view the game on TV at Hofheinz. They were understandably PO’ed & “Bleachergate” was born.
YouTube Game Linkage: Texas @ Houston 2001 - YouTube
It was also two years after the A&M Bonfire collapse which killed 12 people.
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The person that made bleachergate possible was our former AD, Chet Gladchuck. Incidentally, he is the AD for Navy which we’ll be playing this weekend.
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Delete thread/ban user. LOL.
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We did a bait and switch because when the contract to play Texas was signed, we were still playing in the dome. So when we moved back to Robertson, you bet that Texas wanted more seats than our stadium had available.
I guess they should have had better lawyers when reviewing the contract.
Houston lawyers > UT lawyers.
When are they selling that Houston land?
I hate UT.
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Kinda funny to see Applewhite playing against the school he later coached. I wanted it to work with him, but it is what it is. Still thought he got hosed in the QB competition with Simms.
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Same here; I’m glad the president stepped up and deemed they were unacceptable. They were very high in the sky and the wooden boards they rested on were not even centered from what I saw.
Now, I would like to know what we payed for that install, and if the school tried to recoup some of that expenditure from the vendor. I seem to recall they passed some inspection, so legally there was probably no recourse. But I may be remembering the inspection thing incorrectly.
That’s a pretty good take on it. One of the worst decisions our athletic dept ever made I think.
That should have stuck to the AD and he should have never gotten another job at that level again.
Someone mentioned he was the same AD that did the plywood suites in the Hof too. Incredible.
Agree and agree. But I always want it to work out for every coach we ever had. I was hoping
Applewhite would be a Legend here. He seems like a nice enough fella overall, but I was
surprised at how , quiet, unassuming , and low key he seemed as a head coach. He just
doesn’t seem like HC material and he didn’t grow into the job.
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I always said I hated applewhite the coach, but applewhite the person was as nice as they come. I actually got to meet him at a kicking tryout they had at TDECU back in 2017. Genuinely great dude, and actually knew how to talk up UH. But man he sucked as a coach.
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You can say the same thing about U.T.'s band and that of O.U., aTm, Bama, etc. Its called tradition and sadly, UH has little of it left. It applies to lots of things in collehe athletics.
I suggest sone reflection on the lack of changes in game day tradition, uniforns and orher identifyers by the "big schools"is q good idea.
As I recall, Barrick Nealy was injured and could not play that game. I think we would have been more competitive if he had been able to play QB. 
He went out on the very first series. He was a promising QB
Dear Lord, did you have to bring up the plywood luxury boxes?
I was about to eat some Mexican flan dessert but I lost my appetite.
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