Blue & Gold

Gorgeous.

Here is a picture of the University of Miami-FL's BankUnited Center. It's an approximately 8,000-seat basketball-specific arena (no hockey). It was built in 2001 for $48 million, which, according to Wikipedia, is $54.3 million dollars in 2013. I think 8,000-seats in the sweet spot for us. I really wouldn't want anything smaller. Coach D is pretty adamant about wanting a basketball-specific arena (no hockey, indoor soccer). The Wikipedia site says that the "venue hosts concerts, family shows, trade shows, lecture series, university events and sporting events, including all University of Miami men's and women's basketball games." BankUnited Center home.

Bump. The dinner is tomorrow night. (3/4)

We looked emotionally spent. 4 of 21 on 3's. I guess we were due to lay an egg. Plus, giving credit to Buffalo, they're always sky-high to play us and they played a very good game. And we've all known for a couple of years that Javon Mcrae is a great player. I like Reggie Witherspoon.

Sweeeet find! Thanks for posting!

Actually, I grew up about five-minutes from the Rubber Bowl and have never heard exactly why the lightpoles are located where they are. Do enlighten.

Wow, thanks Dave!

I liked the article. He thinks Columbus would win, but as was stated by others, pretty much just because they're used to the meat-grinder Big 10 schedule. Fair enough. I also appreciate that he added: I think the Zips might actually win a series against Ohio State more easily than a one-and-done NCAA format game.

In looking at their box scores, they are a very good team & the scoring is quite evenly distributed. But look at the handful of close games they've had & BJG is typically their leading scorer. So he obviously demands the ball & steps up when the chips are down.

Thanks, Dave. Yes, I've been actively following Isaiah in the recruiting forum. What I'm really interested in is his current style of play correlating with his lower playing weight. This is the first year Isaiah didn't play football (OL) and I read somewhere that his coach said he'd lost about 30 pounds & had really trimmed down, so I've been looking for more recent updates describing his game as all of the reviews I've read are from when he was built like an OL. I'm just trying to visualize the kind of player we're going to be getting.

Elder’s game plan defensively was to try and contain Trent Donald and Kwan Cheatham (committed to Akron). “We were trying to minimize their (Donald and Cheatham) touches,” Schoenfeld said. “We thought that would give us the best chance to win, and it worked out OK.” Cheatham finished with 13 points and seven rebounds while Donald added 11 points and nine rebounds. I'm excited about Kwan. Though his season stats won't blow you away, he's a 6'9" PF who, if needed, can shoot from 3. The thing about Kwan is that he just turned 17 in November, I believe. So even though he is a senior he is young for his class. I think Kwan may be a good candidate for a redshirt next year, as he'll still be only 17 when the season starts. A redshirt would give him a year to eat, lift & fill out his 6'9" frame.

AJ hasn't really had a memorable senior season. When he's played he's been good but he's been suspended for a number of games. However, he's a long & athletic 6'7" (built much like Jimmy Conyers, only taller) so I'm sure KD & Co. will be able to use him once he matures a bit.

Thank you for the link.

DJ Wingfield is a stud. At least by looking at his stats he is. I wish I could find more information on Isaiah Johnson. He's definitely huge, but have you seen him play? If so, what are his strengths & weaknesses?

+1. Lots of fun last night. Great environment. Great game. That was truly high-level college basketball.

I heard an announcer say this, so TIFWIW, but I guess UM wanted to redshirt Lavert, but he was playing "so good" [sic] in practice that they felt like they had to play him. He played really well in last year's state tourney & I was excited to see him play in the MAC. I was disappointed when I didn't see him on OU's roster at the beginning of the year.

We no longer lose any recruiting wars in the MAC. KD (with a little help from someone w/ the initials LJ, *cough, *cough) has elevated recruiting to the point where, versus other MAC schools, we get who we want.

Agreed. Zeke has really elevated his game this season, so it has not left many minutes for Forsythe. However, though Zeke certainly has a much bigger upside than Forsythe, I believe Forsythe will actually be a better college player than Zeke. IMHO Forsythe is much better as a freshman than Zeke was. Pat's 6'11", muscular & is more aggressive on the offensive end than Zeke has ever been. Also, since Forsythe isn't as concerned about blocking shots, he stays in position for rebounding better than Zeke did during his first 3 years (this year Zeke is blocking shots, rebounding, and not getting into foul trouble - he's truly dominating games, but he didn't do that his first 3 years). Anyway, Forsythe is going to be a beast.

I was sitting behind the Zips' basket (2nd half) & there were quite a few people sitting around me wearing "Kretzer #15" t-shirts. I spoke briefly w/ 3 girls sitting in front of me & they said half the town of Waverly was at the game. I loved my seats (better than any seats I've had at the JAR). With such a great view of the action, it was easy to see that JK was supremely comfortable last night, took his time & planted his feet, squared up & just had textbook after textbook stroke. Being a muscular 6'8" (true freshman), this guy's going to have a nice career.

I like your ideas, but for ^^^ "no decks or tiers." I think different levels give an arena more of a "big time" feel, even if the seating capacity isn't like an NBA 20,000-seat facility. The decks/tiers/levels (lower bowl, loges, upper bowl) keep the arena from looking like a glorified/over-sized high school gym.

I'm no architect, but I believe the only way for an arena to be expandable is if/when you see an arena that doesn't look finished at one end, i.e., the big wall (e.g., Xavier's arena). They could knock out the wall & expand the seating around to make a complete bowl. Here is another example. This is the seating diagram for the Van Andel Arena in Grand Rapids, MI. Expanding arenas is much more difficult (costly) than expanding a baseball or football stadium.

I don't really know KD personally, but have been following his career since his St.V/M days. (I was an intern at Prudential Securities when he was there following being let go by CMU & got to know him a little bit; he wouldn't remember me. This was while he was volunteer coaching/instructing at the Jewish Community Center. He told me the story of what happened at CMU & had tears in his eyes while he told me. IMO, his personality hasn't changed one bit from those days. Off the court he's very humble & actually pretty quiet.) So, IMHO, I'd say KD would have no problem voting for his own team, but wouldn't vote them any higher than he honestly thought they deserved.

InfoCision Stadium, Part Deux.

At least 8,000 seating capacity but no more than 10,000. 4 levels: 1: lower bowl, 2: loges, 3: club level, 4: upper bowl At least 3 main entrances. Escalators. Brick, glass & steel. The exterior of U of Rhode Island's Ryan Center is awful, but I love the interior layout (sans the corner scoreboard - not shown in the below link). Ryan Center

Noooo, Coach Dambrot doesn't know what he's talking about.