hey aahhbigboy! unc-g going to the coliseum!

[oleschoolaggie]

this one's for you aahhbigboy! unc-g to the coliseum!

even though fleming gym (over at unc-g) is more modern and has nicer amenities than corbett, unc-g recognizes they could attract better recruits if they play their home games at a better facility like the coliseum (see article below). if facilities don't have a major impact on recruiting, why is unc-g willing to spend "extra dollars" in order to play its home games at the coliseum? they "never" sellout fleming and they just renovated it two years ago!

so i guess unc-g is just wasting money based on aahhbigboy's philosophy that a coach should be able to get the best recruits with inferior facilities. aahhbigboy, please read the article below. it may just open your eyes...


UNCG to move games to coliseum
Thursday, December 4
(updated 5:30 am)

By Rob Daniels
Staff Writer

GREENSBORO -- Seeking to raise its local profile and upgrade the strength of its home schedule, UNCG will move most and perhaps all of its men's basketball games from Fleming Gymnasium to the Greensboro Coliseum starting next season, sources close the program said this week.

University and coliseum officials have called a news conference at noon Friday to announce the change of venue. Mike Hirschman, UNCG's sports information director, declined to discuss the subject of the news conference Wednesday.

The move to a facility 10 times the size of Fleming, the school's 1,833-seat on-campus gym, represents UNCG's most aggressive sports marketing effort since a successful bid to serve as host for the NCAA Division I women's soccer championships in 1997 and '98.

The program, which joined NCAA Division I play in 1991, does not expect to fill the new place on a regular basis. For most games, large portions of the upper deck are likely to be covered by black curtains.

In moving the games one mile southwest of campus, the university hopes the full-time affiliation with the coliseum, which celebrates its 50th anniversary in 2009, will enhance recruiting. It also anticipates the building's status as host of several upcoming ACC tournaments will attract that league's members to play the Spartans in Greensboro.
To that end, the university has hired Fred Barakat, the ACC's former director of basketball operations, as a scheduling consultant, sources said. Barakat, who retired from the conference after the 2006-07 season, is a well-connected administrator and former coach whose phone calls to others in college basketball seldom go unreturned.

UNCG has played occasional home games at the coliseum in the past and is scheduled to face nationally ranked Davidson there Feb. 5. Results of those efforts have been mixed; Southern Conference games haven't been big draws, but a sellout crowd of 21,124 saw Duke defeat the Spartans on Dec. 31, 2005.

Nelson Bobb, UNCG's athletics director, called the game "a great day for Greensboro." The gathering remains the largest to watch any UNCG sporting event.

There is some risk involved in the move. Fleming, located only steps away from the heart of campus housing, can be a difficult place for opponents. The Spartans will lose the intimacy of a gym, but will try to persuade students to make the quick shuttle ride to Lee Street, where a modern and historically significant arena awaits.

Fleming Gym, housed in the Health and Human Performance Building, isn't going anywhere. It will remain the home of Spartans women's basketball and volleyball.

But its marquee tenant is poised to vacate only two years after Fleming was renovated to include chair-back seating in the lower half of both sides. The facility was named Dec. 1, 1994, after Michael B. Fleming, a benefactor and former member of the board of trustees who advocated the university's general growth in intercollegiate athletics. At the time, UNCG's advancement from NCAA Division III to Division I, completed from 1987 to '91, was the fastest transition in the association's history.

The NCAA tournament will come to the coliseum for the 12th time when first- and second-round games are held there in March 2009. The facility has been the home of 21 ACC men's tournaments and is scheduled to serve as host in 2010-11 and 2013-15.

[Maxell]

And to think we played our home games there before Corbett was built.

[aahhbigboy]

Oldeschool,
I never said that there wasn't any validity to what you were saying, but I just think it can be waaaaay overrated. Corbett is jumping man. You can get one or two good recruits there. Here is the line in that article that should scare the heck out of UNCG.

"There is some risk involved in the move. Fleming, located only steps away from the heart of campus housing, can be a difficult place for opponents. The Spartans will lose the intimacy of a gym, but will try to persuade students to make the quick shuttle ride to Lee Street, where a modern and historically significant arena awaits."

Give me a full, jumpin Corbett over an empty coliseum any day. This is a bad move for UNCG. Just think about it, Duke would much rather you come to Cameron than to play in a coliseum. You better believe that.

[Aggie Monster]

Dec 4, 2008 20:03:49 GMT -5 aahhbigboy said:

Oldeschool,
I never said that there wasn't any validity to what you were saying, but I just think it can be waaaaay overrated. Corbett is jumping man. You can get one or two good recruits there. Here is the line in that article that should scare the heck out of UNCG.

"There is some risk involved in the move. Fleming, located only steps away from the heart of campus housing, can be a difficult place for opponents. The Spartans will lose the intimacy of a gym, but will try to persuade students to make the quick shuttle ride to Lee Street, where a modern and historically significant arena awaits."

Give me a full, jumpin Corbett over an empty coliseum any day. This is a bad move for UNCG. Just think about it, Duke would much rather you come to Cameron than to play in a coliseum. You better believe that.

I agree, Cameron rips that philosophy apart. It took UNC a while not to be considered "wine and cheese" after moving to the Dean Dome. NC State fans hated the move to the RBC center. Yeah, they like the suites and box seats, but Reynolds was the home of many upsets and it didn't really do much for the program. It's loud as sheeet in Reynolds.

I say do a massive reno on Corbett, but leave it Corbett(if you know what I mean). Remove the bleaches and get some seats, get some replay TV's, etc. Do what it takes.

Another thing. The hardwood is the hardwood. You can beef up facilities for b-bball recruits and it not even be seen by the fans. Re-do the lockerroooms, lace them out. Build a small practice facility somewhere with high end eminities. I think thats more important than Corbett itself.

[Tee-Sharp]

So UNCG has basically decided to take 3 or 4 butt whippings from the majors on their “home” floor. All other home games will be about 1000 - 2000 folk sitting in a cavernous 20,000 seat arena with the curtains pulled over the upper deck. They will also have to pay rent. Recruits will not be impressed.

Monster:
Yeah, NC State’s old place was the loudest joint I’ve been inside. There was something about the way the sound echoed off the roof in there.

As for Corbett, the main thing hindering any renovation is the original design. Those 4 large support columns take away from most aesthetically pleasing changes in there. A new arena is preferred but I know the funds are not there.

[oleschoolaggie]

folks, i'm not suggesting that the coliseum is a better place for a&t to play its games or even unc-g for that matter. the point i've tried to make is that facilities are a very important factor for recruits and because corbett (the facility, not the dawg pound) is one of the most outdated arenas in the meac, our basketball coaches are at a recruiting disadvantage in terms of facilities.

i get upset about it because we're not talking about our facility compared to pwc's, we're talking about compared to the rest of the meac! if we have one of the worse facilities in the meac, imagine how far we're behind the pwc's.

i'm messing with aahhbigboy because he complains that eaves doesn't bring in better recruits than other meac coaches. and my argument has been we don't give him the tools he needs to out recruit the bozeman's and nickelberry's of the world.

my thing is, before you criticize eaves' ability to recruit, look in the mirror and judge ourselves (a&t) regarding how well we support our coaches with the tools they need, like facilities and budget. if we get a poor grade regarding the support of our coaches, then how can we hold the coaches to a higher standard than the standard we hold for ourselves? aahhbigboy wants to hold our coaches to "hall of fame" standards. yet, at the same time, he holds a&t to division 2 standards. why not hold a&t to "hall of fame" standards if that's the standard for the coaches? then we wouldn't necessarily need "hall of fame" coaches to be successful.

don't get me wrong, i love corbett as a game time venue because of the dawg pound and the overall excellent fan support we provide. but as a facility, corbett is outdated. we want to talk about the ncaa tourney which is "big time" basketball, but we have a small time facility. the scoreboard we have is the "exact" same scoreboard that was installed when corbett was first built over 25 years ago. its outdated! the upper level bleachers are disgusting and very uncomfortable for most older adults. they're outdated!

since we can't afford to build a new arena, we need to install a more modern scoreboard and "maybe" a jumbotron. like the aggie football stadium, a jumbotron in corbett would impress recruits big time! and those hard azz medal bleachers on the upper level need to be replaced with new more attractive and comfortable bleachers similar to the one's behind the baskets on the lower level.

we don't have to completely "rebuild" corbett to bring it up to speed. give eaves an attractive facility to show recruits and then the advantage will be ours because we by far have the largest fan attendance in the meac which would very nicely complement a sparkling facility. it would elevate us back to the top of the meac despite the fact that several other meac schools will have brand new facilities...

[Aggie77]

UNC-G is caught up in Crazytown, this move will not enhance anything but the Coliseum coffers.

Enhance recruiting no, which game are they going to invite recruits to, the 30 point embarrassment by the Big Four, or the weekly pin drop classic with the other 900 people?

Enhance attendance, no. Why does a school go from an 1833 seat facility (which is probably seldom packed) to 20k arena? Where in the article did it say it’s difficult to manage the overflow crowds clambering to get in Fleming Gym. If the student will not walk to the center of campus, what H-E-L-L makes them think they are going to shuttle back and forth to the Coliseum?

Last but not least, a Schedule Consultant? HS, this is the craziest that Crazytown has ever been. Even if the Michigan, Tenn, or whoever agrees to play at the Coliseum, UNC-G will have make a least two return trips without the guarantee they would normally get for the same . . .

[oleschoolaggie]

and one other thing folks. the next time someone compares the dawg pound to duke's cameron indoor stadium, i think i'll scream! corbett is not cameron and the dawg pound ain't the crazies! it ain't even close!

we may have the best attendance and the rowdiest crowd in the meac, but let's not fool ourselves, it does not compare to cameron. not in attendance, nor rowdiness. in fact, when we play teams like umes or dsu, you could hear a pin drop in corbett. cameron is always packed and the crazies always rock the house no matter who duke plays...

[Bornthrilla]

This Dawg Pound is never truly the Dawg Pound until spring semester comes around. We'll see what the atmosphere is like when the students come back in January.

[Bornthrilla]

UNCG announces ticket specials for December home games
Courtesy: UNCG Sports Information Release: 12/01/2008



View larger Courtesy: UNCG Sports Information

The University has set up the following special ticket prices for home games in the month of December:

12/4 MBK vs. CITADEL - 7:00 PM
All ages, all tickets, all seats (reserved and GA) just $6.00! Choose your seat and print your ticket at home! Available on-line and gameday walk up. (Buy now)

12/6 DOUBLEHEADER vs. CHARLESTON - 12:00 Noon & 3:00 PM
One ticket good for both games of the doubleheader! All tickets just $5.00 for adults (18 & up) and $3.00 for Youth (4-16) and Seniors (60 & up). The special prices are good for reserved and GA seating! (Buy now)

12/13 WBK vs. FORDHAM - 1:00 PM
All ages, all tickets, all seats (all seating GA) just $3.00! Purchase and print your ticket at home! Available on-line and gameday walk up. (Buy now)

12/17 WBK vs. GEORGIA SOUTHERN - 7:00 PM
All ages, all tickets, all seats (all seating GA) just $3.00! Purchase and print your ticket at home! Available on-line and gameday walk up. (Buy now)

12/31 MBK vs. AKRON - 2:00 PM
All ages, all tickets, all seats (reserved and GA) just $6.00! Choose your seat and print your ticket at home! Available on-line and gameday walk up. (Buy now)

[oleschoolaggie]

Dec 5, 2008 12:11:41 GMT -5 Bornthrilla said:

This Dawg Pound is never truly the Dawg Pound until spring semester comes around. We'll see what the atmosphere is like when the students come back in January.

but i will say this about the dawg pound. last season when winston came up in there, corbett and the dawg pound was just as electric as cameron that night! corbett was packed and the dawg pound was freakin' ruthless! i don't know if i've ever seen corbett that loud and hyped before!

man, wssu's fans got a tremendous ear full that night! and i loved every nanosecond of it! it was as if we took our football frustrations out on them! when rush hit that first 3 pt bomb from dayum near half court, corbett freakin' erupted! it was so tense that there was a crowd reaction to everything that happened on the court!

if corbett was like that all the time, then maybe corbett could be discussed in the same sentence as cameron...

[Aggie Monster]

I cant wait until them damn "Dirty Birds" have to come back to Corbett. They will probably play at the coliseum, but I can dream.

Those 4 pillars are killing any type of major construction. Just replace those bleachers with some real seats. But we dont need a jumbo tron in Corbett people. 4 - 6 Very large flat panels would do the trick. They make 73" flat panels now. Or just mount some projection screens up high. It doesn't take much. All them damn Engineer and ECT majors we got and they cant get that done. That's what I always thought was a shame.

[sammiz]

Let's tear down Moore Gym, build a new arena connecting to Corbett as an auxilliary Gym. That bulls&^* fitness center would have been a nice parking lot for this idea.

[Maxell]

Dec 5, 2008 12:32:54 GMT -5 oleschoolaggie said:

Dec 5, 2008 12:11:41 GMT -5 Bornthrilla said:

This Dawg Pound is never truly the Dawg Pound until spring semester comes around. We'll see what the atmosphere is like when the students come back in January.

but i will say this about the dawg pound. last season when winston came up in there, corbett and the dawg pound was just as electric as cameron that night! corbett was packed and the dawg pound was freakin' ruthless! i don't know if i've ever seen corbett that loud and hyped before!

man, wssu's fans got a tremendous ear full that night! and i loved every nanosecond of it! it was as if we took our football frustrations out on them! when rush hit that first 3 pt bomb from dayum near half court, corbett freakin' erupted! it was so tense that there was a crowd reaction to everything that happened on the court!

if corbett was like that all the time, then maybe corbett could be discussed in the same sentence as cameron...

MEMORIES: When Corbett was ALL BLEACHERS we "squoze" damn near 8,000 poeple in there for a WSSU game. As soon as you showed your ID to get in, sweat started to roll down your temples and it would be 35 degrees outside. People hanging over every rail, sitting on steps, in aisles, in the foyer. We didn't have Blue Reign, but the cheerleaders and pep band could do anything they could do. Corbett has always been smokin' for rivalry games.

Now the mission, as you said, is to have that atmosphere no matter who the opponent is.

[oleschoolaggie]

Dec 5, 2008 13:42:45 GMT -5 Aggie Monster said:

I cant wait until them damn "Dirty Birds" have to come back to Corbett. They will probably play at the coliseum, but I can dream.

Those 4 pillars are killing any type of major construction. Just replace those bleachers with some real seats. But we dont need a jumbo tron in Corbett people. 4 - 6 Very large flat panels would do the trick. They make 73" flat panels now. Or just mount some projection screens up high. It doesn't take much. All them damn Engineer and ECT majors we got and they cant get that done. That's what I always thought was a shame.

yeah, flat panels would be fine! as long as they're big enough.

but i would prefer that we not put real seats on the upper level because if would further reduce our seating capacity. before we added the reserved seats on the lower level, our seating capacity was 8,000 and now its 5,700. we loss 2,300 seats by adding those new seats on the lower level.

and i agree with you wholeheartedly about our engineering and technology schools. i also think they could design a better more attractive web site for a&t too...