Faurot Field
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Faurot Field, also known as Memorial Stadium, is a stadium in Columbia, Missouri. It is primarily used for American_football, and is the home field of the University of Missouri Tigers.
The stadium is a typical horseshoe-shaped stadium, with seating added on in the "open" endzone. The horseshoe is completed by a grass berm in the curved end, which is used for general admission on game days. The berm is famous for the giant block "M" made of painted white stones located behind the endzone. This distinctive feature has not been immune to pranks, such as enterprising Nebraska or Kansas fans attempting to change the "M" to an "N" or a "K", but groundskeepers and students have in the past protected what may be the stadium's best-known landmark. There is a short buffer zone of shrubs placed between the field and the stands around the entire length of the horseshoe, as well as a paved road (taking the place of the track, removed in the mid-1970s).
In recent years, several major renovations have taken place at Faurot Field. The old OmniTurf surface (infamous to Tigers fans as the "lousy field" on which The Fifth Down Game was played) was removed in 1996 and replaced with natural grass, which itself would give way to FieldTurf in 2003. 1999 saw the installation of a video board in the north ("M") end and a refurbishment of the concourses, with new signage and expanded concessions. In 2001, the old press box was torn down and replaced with a 15-story building containing state-of-the-art facilities for the coaches and media, as well as several executive suites, hundreds of premium club seats and a restaurant. In 2005, the south end's antiquated auxiliary scoreboards were replaced with new ones, as well as a second high-definition video monitor. Future improvements that are expected by fans include a replacement to the north end scoreboard and sound system, and a possible reconstruction of the south end to more fully enclose the stadium, adding capacity and facilities including bathrooms and permanent food outlets.
The stadium itself is known as Memorial Stadium, named as a memorial to the MU students and alumni who lost their lives in World War I. In 1972, the playing surface was named Faurot Field in honor of longtime coach Don Faurot.
The stadium officially holds 68,349 people. The record attendance for Faurot Field is 75,298 when Missouri battled Penn State on October 4, 1980.
