It was going to be a quick and easy write up.

Even if the fundraising projections looked overly optimistic – which, in fact, I think they do – I planned to use this space to endorse the notion of a new stadium at CSU.

I don't really buy Athletic Director Jack Graham's assertions that a new stadium will help produce a better team, nor do I believe that this project will unify the CSU community. What we've seen instead is a lot of angry opposition. There's also very little evidence that a new stadium can help the university become more self-sustaining. It'll be tough to break even, let alone make money off the thing.

Still, I like the idea of it because an on-campus stadium will mean more fans on campus. It means people filling the streets of Fort Collins either before or after a game. And more people mean more customers for our bars, restaurants and other retailers. That's a good thing.

I also appreciated that the projections offered late last month by the stadium funding subcommittee were presented with worst-case and best-case scenarios. That signals some of the conservatism about this proposal that's been hard to find in the AD's office.

Under the best-case scenario, the