OU fans bashing Stroh Center

[1987alum]

I know some of it is sour grapes, but some OU fans really slammed The Stroh after visiting.

Here is the thread on BobcatAttack.com

[gmartin]

I like how they blame our AD for the scheduling conflict between hockey and basketball. Drago must be posting over on their forums. Lol.

[transfer2BGSU]

Maybe they should be more concerned with the fact that they have lost 6 in a row in Bowling Green rather than the new glorified high school gym we're playing in. I agree with FalconFan1 - show me a high school gym (other than the one in Oak Harbor built with Davis-Besse money) that looks like the Stroh Center.

It's great that other schools are building 8,000-10,000 seat arenas and more. But are they filling them each and every night? EMU isn't. And Ball State isn't either.

Yes, there are some things I would have done differently with the Stroh Center
A. Escalator
B. The end seats that face one another instead of the court
C. A dedicated Falcon Club
D. Metal detectors at each entrance for people to walk-through (along with the little trays so they could empty out their pockets and put their change and keys in) as well as make them remove their shoes and belts (if Southwest Airlines can make you do it, so can BGSU)

But no matter what we built, there are going to always be those who are going to complain that we didn't do this, and we didn't do that.

[zete]

My opinion, mind you, but can understand the sentiments those OU fans have with the Stroh. What they are neglecting to recognize is the fact Bowling Green doesn't support basketball - thus we have a 'glorified HS gymnasium.' SIMPLE to understand -their fan base is healthy ours is very sick.

[hammb]

I love the Stroh Center and really don't care what the OU fans think. I think they're off base in some of their criticisms. As I've said on here time and time again, I am SO glad we didn't build a facility similar to EMU's. They have a nice arena and never have anybody in it. It feels cavernous and sterile. NO thanks. I figure if we get to the point where the 4700 seat Stroh Center is too small we'll worry about it then. There just isn't that sort of fanbase in BG.

Personally I absolutely LOVE the way you go up and your first look at the seating/court is from above. I think it makes for a beautiful entrance. Sure I can see the argument for escalators there, but there is an elevator for handicapped and I really don't think it's that big of a deal.

Those OU fans that were comparing it to Anderson must have never been to Anderson. The lighting is a "little" better!? Please! It's worlds better. Hell we can now actually dim the lights and then bring them back on before the game! The scoreboard is on another planet. The video board is nice, the player stat boards are nice, and the auxiliary scoreboards are nice...all of them are vastly superior to the barely functional scoreboard we had at Anderson. The sound system isn't the best I've heard at an arena, but it is still much better than what we had at Anderson.

The atmosphere will come when we win. And that's when you're really going to LOVE the fact that they stuck with 4700 seats...the atmosphere in that place will ROCK when we're good and playing exciting basketball. The bathrooms and concessions are about as good as I'd expect at a sporting event (I would still love to see the University reach out more to local eateries for athletic concessions...similar to bringing in Baldy-Q at the football games).

I find it VERY hard to complain about the Stroh. I simply love almost everything about it. The only thing I don't like is what transfer mentioned with the corner seats not angling back towards the court. That's a pet peeve of mine at sporting venues, but I realize it was a budget issue. Other than that, I really don't have a complaint about the place. It is quite simply a great place to watch a basketball game...I've been to a few of the MAC venues, and I think the Stroh is the best of the ones I've visited...definitely like it better than the renovated Savage @ UT.

[BillyLP]

Also doesn't OU's arena hold like 13,000? And they have a "healthy" fan base averaging MAYBE 6,000 a game?

[FalconTurf]

OU has a good thing going in Athens but don't come to BG and call it a HS gym. Are you kidding? Get Fox sports channels or watch some ESPN U and watch some basketball from those small DI schools and seem gyms that have no seats on either end with entry to seats walking behind a rope behind benches.

Outside Perrysburg and Toledo Central Catholic you cannot compare any HS gyms in this area to the Stroh only because you enter seating from above and can sit on all 4 sides. The amenities beyond the seating bowl at the Stroh blows them away as would be expected. Perrysburg probably spent around $36 million on their gym and furnished classrooms for 1,500 - 2,000 students.

[FalconTurf]

http://schooldesigns.com/Project-Detail ... ct_ID=1199
Did my own research and found the above link. $30 million in 2001 with a 1,000 seat auditorium and 3,000 seat gym plus classrooms, cafeteria, and the other amenities needed for a HS.

[zete]

Yes, they do average about 6 or 7 thousand, about what we get for a football game, at the Convo.

[1987alum]

The atmosphere will come when we win. And that's when you're really going to LOVE the fact that they stuck with 4700 seats...the atmosphere in that place will ROCK when we're good and playing exciting basketball.

On a similar note, they didn't call Anderson the House That Roars for nothing. When we were good - at least decent - the place was a great place to be. Don't get me wrong, we needed - NEEDED - The Stroh. But so much of a place's atmosphere is the product on the court.

If the Falcons win a lot of games, the fans will come and the atmosphere will improve. I'll be OU's Convo Center wouldn't have such a great atmosphere if the program was stuck in the mud like ours has been the past ... um, decade or so.

[Falconfreak90]

I love the Stroh Center and really don't care what the OU fans think. I think they're off base in some of their criticisms. As I've said on here time and time again, I am SO glad we didn't build a facility similar to EMU's. They have a nice arena and never have anybody in it. It feels cavernous and sterile. NO thanks. I figure if we get to the point where the 4700 seat Stroh Center is too small we'll worry about it then. There just isn't that sort of fanbase in BG.

Personally I absolutely LOVE the way you go up and your first look at the seating/court is from above. I think it makes for a beautiful entrance. Sure I can see the argument for escalators there, but there is an elevator for handicapped and I really don't think it's that big of a deal.

Those OU fans that were comparing it to Anderson must have never been to Anderson. The lighting is a "little" better!? Please! It's worlds better. Hell we can now actually dim the lights and then bring them back on before the game! The scoreboard is on another planet. The video board is nice, the player stat boards are nice, and the auxiliary scoreboards are nice...all of them are vastly superior to the barely functional scoreboard we had at Anderson. The sound system isn't the best I've heard at an arena, but it is still much better than what we had at Anderson.

The atmosphere will come when we win. And that's when you're really going to LOVE the fact that they stuck with 4700 seats...the atmosphere in that place will ROCK when we're good and playing exciting basketball. The bathrooms and concessions are about as good as I'd expect at a sporting event (I would still love to see the University reach out more to local eateries for athletic concessions...similar to bringing in Baldy-Q at the football games).

I find it VERY hard to complain about the Stroh. I simply love almost everything about it. The only thing I don't like is what transfer mentioned with the corner seats not angling back towards the court. That's a pet peeve of mine at sporting venues, but I realize it was a budget issue. Other than that, I really don't have a complaint about the place. It is quite simply a great place to watch a basketball game...I've been to a few of the MAC venues, and I think the Stroh is the best of the ones I've visited...definitely like it better than the renovated Savage @ UT.

+1. Perfectly said...BTW, during the game, it actually felt like I was still in Anderson at times. Does anybody else feel that way? The set up of the Stroh is similar to Anderson. The Stroh Center is AWESOME.
NIU is another school with a 10,000 seat convocation center and they get, what, 900 for their games?

[zete]

I agree with some of you feeling the arena is too big, yes, maybe you were right. But if the Falcons keep winning big like they did on Saturday it will be full in no time. Louis was hired to make it happen. It would be great to see it start this year.

[Tricky_Falcon]

It's all sour grapes. They haven't been able to win at BG and the frustration is showing. How many people on their board were saying, 'If we made some updates to the Convo..."? A lot. They're jealous we have a shiny new toy and they have their adequate, older building.

[TG1996]

In fairness, I also read several compliments for the Stroh from OU fans on Twitter.

But yeah, most of them are douchebags.

[BGSU33]

I have heard many positive things about the building, but also many not-so-positive things about the Stroh dating way back to the planning stages. I have heard comments about the building from BG people to non-BG people, from our owns fans to visiting fans this season. This summer when I took my guided tour, I came away thinking we had a nice building, but not a great one. I was rather disappointed to be honest, but to be fair, I have personally been in over 100 D-1 facilities in the past 20 years, and that is not an exaggeration. That does not mean my opinion carries any more weight over anyone else's, but I do have a large reference to compare what we have to. I have seen some amazing venues, some so-so ones, and also some bad ones. But as I stated when I took my tour in another thread, after hearing our administration say we hit a "home run" with the Stroh, I felt we hit more of a double, that we tried to stretch into a triple. I said it then and I feel the same having gone back multiple times. I also made comments, both pros and cons then, that I am seeing all these other people saying as well. Do I think we have a better building then before? Yes. But I also think we fell short of building the kind of venue I expected to see from all reports. That said, I am not surprised one bit at all the negative feedback we are hearing, but I do think it's a shame because if you take the two newest major MAC facilities (Akron football stadium and BG basketball arena), Akron has gotten excellent reviews while BG's seems to be very mixed.