2 sellouts in a row

[hammb]

Buffalo, playing like they can, could easily move into the Sweet 16 and then who-knows. A second MAC team would probably have a 13 or 14 seed and have trouble moving forward.

Agreed.

And this years MAC is better than most recent years, but I agree it's nowhere close to 20 years ago. Those years had NBA players in the arena on a weekly basis, in still but sure there is an NBA guy in the conference.

The league is certainly deeper than it had been in a long time though. Of course it is odd to see Akron, Kent, and OU be so mediocre.

[BillyLP]

I loved this quote from UT's Darrington (who wrecked us) in the Blade about the Stroh:

Darrington played in many big venues in the SEC last year. He said this was louder than any of them, with the exception of Arkansas.

“There was even a point in time on the bench where I plugged my ears,” he said.

Disappointing result on Saturday, but after seven years I'm finally convinced that the Stroh Center is the right building for BG.

[hammb]

Disappointing result on Saturday, but after seven years I'm finally convinced that the Stroh Center is the right building for BG.

I was going to Anderson arena at a very young age. I remember getting upset at my parents when I went off to Kindergarten because I was no longer allowed to go to the weeknight games. I have a very strong affinity for that building. As a student nothing compared to standing right on the sidelines to watch games. Not a student now, but I don't think sitting on the baselines compares to the Anderson Arena experience.

But seeing the last 2 weeks at the Stroh Center it's got some things going for it that Anderson didn't have. The open concourse makes for a fantastic atmosphere. I have no idea how those people actually SEE the games, but seeing 4-5 people deep all around the arena is awesome.

Also it was great, for the first time, to see my 3 year old banging his hands on the (empty) seat in front of him for more noise, screaming and chanting with the crowd. He's been to 50+ games in his life, but Saturday was the first time he's been to one with that atmosphere. The result was a bummer, but the game was awesome. When we left he said, "That was the best game ever," of course I had to correct him it only would have been had we won

[zete]

Disappointing result on Saturday, but after seven years I'm finally convinced that the Stroh Center is the right building for BG.

I was going to Anderson arena at a very young age. I remember getting upset at my parents when I went off to Kindergarten because I was no longer allowed to go to the weeknight games. I have a very strong affinity for that building. As a student nothing compared to standing right on the sidelines to watch games. Not a student now, but I don't think sitting on the baselines compares to the Anderson Arena experience.

But seeing the last 2 weeks at the Stroh Center it's got some things going for it that Anderson didn't have. The open concourse makes for a fantastic atmosphere. I have no idea how those people actually SEE the games, but seeing 4-5 people deep all around the arena is awesome.

I still don't think they built it big enough. Seeing 4-5 people deep all around the arena annoyed me. Another 6 or seven hundred seats would be nice to have when needed. And even with that, it would still be considered a small arena.
All in all, it is nice to see the place rockin"

[Siborg]

Disappointing result on Saturday, but after seven years I'm finally convinced that the Stroh Center is the right building for BG.

I was going to Anderson arena at a very young age. I remember getting upset at my parents when I went off to Kindergarten because I was no longer allowed to go to the weeknight games. I have a very strong affinity for that building. As a student nothing compared to standing right on the sidelines to watch games. Not a student now, but I don't think sitting on the baselines compares to the Anderson Arena experience.

But seeing the last 2 weeks at the Stroh Center it's got some things going for it that Anderson didn't have. The open concourse makes for a fantastic atmosphere. I have no idea how those people actually SEE the games, but seeing 4-5 people deep all around the arena is awesome.

I still don't think they built it big enough. Seeing 4-5 people deep all around the arena annoyed me. Another 6 or seven hundred seats would be nice to have when needed. And even with that, it would still be considered a small arena.
All in all, it is nice to see the place rockin"

IIRC, they built this with later expansions in mind. Start with 4,400, then I believe they had a plan to increase to 5,700 and a subsequent plan to max out at 7,500. I don't know what costs would be associated or if that plan was actually put into place. First they wanted to see if they could increase attendance to warrant those upgrades. Then again, I might have dreamt this.

[BillyLP]

Disappointing result on Saturday, but after seven years I'm finally convinced that the Stroh Center is the right building for BG.

I was going to Anderson arena at a very young age. I remember getting upset at my parents when I went off to Kindergarten because I was no longer allowed to go to the weeknight games. I have a very strong affinity for that building. As a student nothing compared to standing right on the sidelines to watch games. Not a student now, but I don't think sitting on the baselines compares to the Anderson Arena experience.

But seeing the last 2 weeks at the Stroh Center it's got some things going for it that Anderson didn't have. The open concourse makes for a fantastic atmosphere. I have no idea how those people actually SEE the games, but seeing 4-5 people deep all around the arena is awesome.

I still don't think they built it big enough. Seeing 4-5 people deep all around the arena annoyed me. Another 6 or seven hundred seats would be nice to have when needed. And even with that, it would still be considered a small arena.
All in all, it is nice to see the place rockin"

IIRC, they built this with later expansions in mind. Start with 4,400, then I believe they had a plan to increase to 5,700 and a subsequent plan to max out at 7,500. I don't know what costs would be associated or if that plan was actually put into place. First they wanted to see if they could increase attendance to warrant those upgrades. Then again, I might have dreamt this.

This sounds familiar to me, as well, but I can't remember if that was just part of the early discussions or if it was actually included in the building plans.

[Globetrotter]

Disappointing result on Saturday, but after seven years I'm finally convinced that the Stroh Center is the right building for BG.

I was going to Anderson arena at a very young age. I remember getting upset at my parents when I went off to Kindergarten because I was no longer allowed to go to the weeknight games. I have a very strong affinity for that building. As a student nothing compared to standing right on the sidelines to watch games. Not a student now, but I don't think sitting on the baselines compares to the Anderson Arena experience.

But seeing the last 2 weeks at the Stroh Center it's got some things going for it that Anderson didn't have. The open concourse makes for a fantastic atmosphere. I have no idea how those people actually SEE the games, but seeing 4-5 people deep all around the arena is awesome.

I still don't think they built it big enough. Seeing 4-5 people deep all around the arena annoyed me. Another 6 or seven hundred seats would be nice to have when needed. And even with that, it would still be considered a small arena.
All in all, it is nice to see the place rockin"

IIRC, they built this with later expansions in mind. Start with 4,400, then I believe they had a plan to increase to 5,700 and a subsequent plan to max out at 7,500. I don't know what costs would be associated or if that plan was actually put into place. First they wanted to see if they could increase attendance to warrant those upgrades. Then again, I might have dreamt this.

This sounds familiar to me, as well, but I can't remember if that was just part of the early discussions or if it was actually included in the building plans.

I remember this too. Might have just been part of our discussions.

[hammb]

I know we've had this discussion many times on this site. I don't recall at all whether the Stroh was considered "expandable" when they built it.

I do know, for a fact, Anderson Arena was built to be expandable by knocking out the North wall and building outward. It opened in 1960 and was our primary venue for concerts, graduations, and basketball until 2011.

At no point in that 50 years did it ever seem necessary to knock out that north wall and expand the size of the arena.


I suspect the Stroh Center capacity will be more than adequate for another 50 years.

[mbenecke]

I know we've had this discussion many times on this site. I don't recall at all whether the Stroh was considered "expandable" when they built it.

I do know, for a fact, Anderson Arena was built to be expandable by knocking out the North wall and building outward. It opened in 1960 and was our primary venue for concerts, graduations, and basketball until 2011.

At no point in that 50 years did it ever seem necessary to knock out that north wall and expand the size of the arena.


I suspect the Stroh Center capacity will be more than adequate for another 50 years.

I agree with this. While there are times where it would be nice to have 6,000 seats, it's not necessary for every game. I actually loved seeing so many people lined around the concourse on Saturday - Huger mentioned that the best thing about Anderson was seeing people "hanging from the ceilings."

[zete]

Don't you think it is possible for our program to have a few back to back Buffalo type runs? If not, I agree with you. ....Top 25 over a 2 year span would bring the Stroh to the point of exploding.

[hammb]

I do think it's more than possible. Given our arena and endowment I think it should be the goal.

But I'm perfectly ok with turning people away if games become that hot of a ticket. I don't think it's a problem if demand outstrips supply in the good times. Especially to ensure you still have SOME atmosphere during the down times.

[mbenecke]

I think we should start planning now for a near-sellout on Friday, March 1 against Kent State.

[zete]

Oh, well. Tuesday 2/12 CMU 1,446 came out

[mbenecke]

Oh, well. Tuesday 2/12 CMU 1,446 came out

Yep. Tuesday games don't draw anymore.

National TV games on a Friday night? Especially if BG keeps winning? Different story.

[mbenecke]

https://www.toledoblade.com/sports/coll ... 0190219187" target="_blank

Read this article and take it to heart. Let's freaking pack the place next Tuesday against Miami.

(Great write-up by Briggs - because he has a very real point)