Mid-Major Tradition

[Rollo83]

I got the chance to travel to Indianapolis this weekend and accompany a friend of mine to Father's Weekend at Butler University to visit his daughter.

We got to go to historic Hinkle Fieldhouse and see Butler play Rhode Island. What an experience! It was something to see 10,000+ engaged fans cheering on the Bulldogs in that old building.

I know they are rated #9 in the country, but how does a school with only 4,000 students and a very small campus draw like that? I guess having your campus in the suburb of a city as big as Indianapolis helps. Plus, the entire state of Indiana is crazy about basketball.

I won't even talk about how much better their program (players, coaches, administration) is than ours...or anyone else in the MAC for that matter.

I was in awe of Hinkle Fieldhouse with all its tradition. Yes, the concourse was narrow and the bathrooms ancient, but the old barn had so much character. It reminded me of Anderson Arena and St. John's Arena...two other great places to watch college basketball. You know how you get that feeling going into an old gym? The acoustics, it has some warts, some bad site angles...but you feel like you are sitting in history....a throw back. That's what Hinkle felt like.

I couldn't help think back to all my years watching basketball in Anderson. That place had character...unlike our new high school gym.

[hammb]

I couldn't help think back to all my years watching basketball in Anderson. That place had character...unlike our new high school gym.

I loved Anderson arena. I remember watching games there when I was 4-5 years old...some great memories with my grandparents and their season tickets.

I remember watching Daniels burst onto the scene as a lotto pick. I remember watching Stacey become the all time leading scorer. I remember watching McLeod hit game winning shots seemingly every week.

I loved that place...it had character, it had history, it had a fond place in my heart.

It also had insanely uncomfortable seats, horrible restrooms, leaks all over the place, a terrible barely functional scoreboard, from all accounts awful locker room amenities, etc.

For the faults it does have I think the gameday experience of the Stroh Center is about a 100x better than Anderson. The video board is nice, the speakers are better, the stat board is nice, the seats are way more comfortable, the lighting is better, you can get to the bathroom and back to your seats during a stoppage, you can get concessions w/o missing the game, etc, etc.

Maybe I've got orange colored glasses, but I love the Stroh Center, and for all the history of our other athletic venues it's by far the best gameday experience...vastly better than the Doyt, Anderson, or the Ice Arena.

[Flipper]

Anderson arena was a dump.....yeah, it was OUR dump....but that doesn't mean it wasn't a dump

I love the Stroh.....

[hammb]

Anderson arena was a dump.....yeah, it was OUR dump....but that doesn't mean it wasn't a dump

I love the Stroh.....

Agreed 100% I loved Anderson but I don't think there is one single part of the gameday experience that is not improved at the Stroh Center.

[Rollo83]

Don't get me wrong...I agreed with us needing to look at a new building. I am just disappointed at what we got. There was so much talk of taking all the good things about Anderson and incorporating them in the new place. I just don't see them. Where are seats that allow the students to be right on top of the action? The new place is so antiseptic that it lacks any character. Maybe winning will cure all ills. We'll see.

[Falcon137]

I know what you're saying.

But...Butler doesn't always draw 10,000. Last year they averaged just over 7,000 same for 2010-2011. Granted that's a lot of fans. But, not for a team in the middle of a big city like Indianapolis and having one of the most successful programs in the country the past 5 years and having success dating back to Thad Matta. Some of that is probably due to playing in the Horizon League. I'm sure they will see a bump in attendance this year in the A10.

I've been to a few games at Hinkle, after the 1st visit the charm wears off. Butler is trying to raise money to do a major renovation to put in some modern accommodations. It's full of bleachers, it's gradually sloped, the top rows seem a really long way from the floor.

It's like any old building or stadium. But after awhile people want legroom, good concessions, good restrooms, and good sight lines.

I would encourage anyone to see a game there. These kind of arena's are all going by the wayside. But, there's a reason they all are.

[TG1996]

I've been to Hinkle several times and have sat in several areas and haven't seen any of the sight lines issues mentioned. Comfortable seats? Mostly not, but the sightlines are all right. Was just there a couple weeks ago for the Gonzaga game and sat about five rows from the top. Didn't feel like it at all.

It was pretty easy to pull for them for awhile, the small school in the cool gym, but by halftime of every game I've attended, I've started hating their fans. Very entitled and boo every last whistle. Gets old after awhile. But the building is fun to sit in for a couple hours.

[Cap City 7]

I recall being both surprised and disappointed when I first heard the Stroh was only going to hold around 4700 fans. To me that is an indication that the powers that be do not have much faith in the future of BG basketball. Anderson Arena was opened sometime in the early '60's so it lasted for around 50 years. Do the people who approved the building of such a small arena feel the program would never need more than the 4700 seats at anytime in the next 50 years or so. I would have thought with population growth alone BG should generate a fan base greater than what they have now. I realize there is little if any need for an arena larger than what the Stroh offers now, but is that the best anyone can envision the program ever getting? In the 1940's, '50's, and '60's Bowling Green basketball was a national player and as seen with Butler it is still possible for a smaller school to build a basketball program that can be a national power. It would require a better coaching staff and better recruiting but it can be done. I believe if BG had a program on the level of Ohio U or the Akron team this season and could sustain it the fans would come and come in large numbers. I realize money is always a factor when it comes to constructing new facilities and perhaps that the case here. I only hope I live to see the day when people complain that the Stroh only holds 4700 fans and the demand exceeds the supply.

[TG1996]

And the day it requires that number of fans on a regular basis, raise ticket prices $5. If it does it the next year, raise 'em $5 more. And as you raise them, give deals to your season ticketholders.

It would be a fantastic problem to have.

[threestooges]

I recall being both surprised and disappointed when I first heard the Stroh was only going to hold around 4700 fans. To me that is an indication that the powers that be do not have much faith in the future of BG basketball. Anderson Arena was opened sometime in the early '60's so it lasted for around 50 years. Do the people who approved the building of such a small arena feel the program would never need more than the 4700 seats at anytime in the next 50 years or so. I would have thought with population growth alone BG should generate a fan base greater than what they have now. I realize there is little if any need for an arena larger than what the Stroh offers now, but is that the best anyone can envision the program ever getting? In the 1940's, '50's, and '60's Bowling Green basketball was a national player and as seen with Butler it is still possible for a smaller school to build a basketball program that can be a national power. It would require a better coaching staff and better recruiting but it can be done. I believe if BG had a program on the level of Ohio U or the Akron team this season and could sustain it the fans would come and come in large numbers. I realize money is always a factor when it comes to constructing new facilities and perhaps that the case here. I only hope I live to see the day when people complain that the Stroh only holds 4700 fans and the demand exceeds the supply.

The other end of the spectrum is Eastern Michigan. I don't know the exact capacity of their arena (8000? 9000?), but it's way too big. I wasn't able to make the trip the last time the BG men's team played there, but I think I've been to every BG-EMU women's game since the place opened. Every time, there are about 500 people there, and 400 are wearing orange. One year, we played the first half of a doubleheader, and I stayed for part of the second game. The EMU men's team was playing Buffalo, and I'd say there were about 150 people in the building at the most. Granted, 150 people in a building the size of the Stroh Center would be depressing, but I was borderline suicidal watching the game with so few people in a building that large. I have no problem with the capacity of the Stroh.

[AyZiggy97]

Don't get me wrong...I agreed with us needing to look at a new building. I am just disappointed at what we got. There was so much talk of taking all the good things about Anderson and incorporating them in the new place. I just don't see them. Where are seats that allow the students to be right on top of the action? The new place is so antiseptic that it lacks any character. Maybe winning will cure all ills. We'll see.

The times it's hosted a full crowd, such as Toledo last year and Michigan State this year, it had the feel of Anderson Arena. Other than that, what were the good things from Anderson to incorporate? That bleacher section closest to the floor at Anderson was filled with a mix of students and non-students for the last decade or so. It was really no different that the rest of the crowd.

[Falconfreak90]

NIU has the same problem. 10K seats and less than 1K show up for games. I think they drew 900 or so for their game against Kent State last week. Ugh.

[hammb]

I recall being both surprised and disappointed when I first heard the Stroh was only going to hold around 4700 fans. To me that is an indication that the powers that be do not have much faith in the future of BG basketball. Anderson Arena was opened sometime in the early '60's so it lasted for around 50 years. Do the people who approved the building of such a small arena feel the program would never need more than the 4700 seats at anytime in the next 50 years or so. I would have thought with population growth alone BG should generate a fan base greater than what they have now. I realize there is little if any need for an arena larger than what the Stroh offers now, but is that the best anyone can envision the program ever getting? In the 1940's, '50's, and '60's Bowling Green basketball was a national player and as seen with Butler it is still possible for a smaller school to build a basketball program that can be a national power. It would require a better coaching staff and better recruiting but it can be done. I believe if BG had a program on the level of Ohio U or the Akron team this season and could sustain it the fans would come and come in large numbers. I realize money is always a factor when it comes to constructing new facilities and perhaps that the case here. I only hope I live to see the day when people complain that the Stroh only holds 4700 fans and the demand exceeds the supply.

The other end of the spectrum is Eastern Michigan. I don't know the exact capacity of their arena (8000? 9000?), but it's way too big. I wasn't able to make the trip the last time the BG men's team played there, but I think I've been to every BG-EMU women's game since the place opened. Every time, there are about 500 people there, and 400 are wearing orange. One year, we played the first half of a doubleheader, and I stayed for part of the second game. The EMU men's team was playing Buffalo, and I'd say there were about 150 people in the building at the most. Granted, 150 people in a building the size of the Stroh Center would be depressing, but I was borderline suicidal watching the game with so few people in a building that large. I have no problem with the capacity of the Stroh.

Agreed, I've been to EMU many times for games, and the building is just depressing. It's a great facility, I enjoy watching games there, but it's depressing to be there with so few people. The one thing I was really hoping for when they were going to build a new facility is that it wouldn't be too big.

I think the Stroh is the perfect size for a town/university/community the size of BG. When the team is winning the place will be full and will be rocking. And even then I doubt very seriously we'll be turning very many fans away. In the early 2000's when we were good and Anderson was consistently at or near capacity I don't think there were many people who wanted to go that were unable to. Maybe the big UM or KSU games in '01-02, but for the most part there were still seats available. Even the MSU game, I'm hard pressed to believe we would have sold an additional 1-2k tickets if we had a bigger venue.

[Flipper]

Agreed....the Stroh is by no means too small.

[transfer2BGSU]

I recall being both surprised and disappointed when I first heard the Stroh was only going to hold around 4700 fans. To me that is an indication that the powers that be do not have much faith in the future of BG basketball. Anderson Arena was opened sometime in the early '60's so it lasted for around 50 years. Do the people who approved the building of such a small arena feel the program would never need more than the 4700 seats at anytime in the next 50 years or so. I would have thought with population growth alone BG should generate a fan base greater than what they have now. I realize there is little if any need for an arena larger than what the Stroh offers now, but is that the best anyone can envision the program ever getting? In the 1940's, '50's, and '60's Bowling Green basketball was a national player and as seen with Butler it is still possible for a smaller school to build a basketball program that can be a national power. It would require a better coaching staff and better recruiting but it can be done. I believe if BG had a program on the level of Ohio U or the Akron team this season and could sustain it the fans would come and come in large numbers. I realize money is always a factor when it comes to constructing new facilities and perhaps that the case here. I only hope I live to see the day when people complain that the Stroh only holds 4700 fans and the demand exceeds the supply.

Just like you don't build a church specifically for Christmas and Easter crowds, you do not build your basketball arena for the year 2050.

When the Stroh Center sells out five years straight and people are paying $50 per ticket (and an O$U fee for premium games), then we can talk about needing to build bigger.

Heck, Toledo spent $34 million to renovate their facility and TAKE OUT 1,500 seats to make theirs smaller. We did it the right way.