A Sea Of Red

Smaller arena - great.

Arena away from students - terrible.

Jonathan Carone wrote:Smaller arena - great.

Arena away from students - terrible.

That sums up so much.

Purple Haize wrote:

Jonathan Carone wrote:Smaller arena - great.

Arena away from students - terrible.

That sums up so much.

I suspect they did not have a viable option to locate it closer to the dorms, but I'm sure there are plans to address the issue. A well run shuttle service would actually result in less effort for the students to get to games.

As far as the size is concerned, I hope they can hold off a bit to see how much interest the rapidly improving men's team can generate before committing to going too small. I've heard numbers as low as 3500, and that seems too small to me.

olldflame wrote:

Purple Haize wrote:

Jonathan Carone wrote:Smaller arena - great.

Arena away from students - terrible.

That sums up so much.

I suspect they did not have a viable option to locate it closer to the dorms, but I'm sure there are plans to address the issue. A well run shuttle service would actually result in less effort for the students to get to games.

As far as the size is concerned, I hope they can hold off a bit to see how much interest the rapidly improving men's team can generate before committing to going too small. I've heard numbers as low as 3500, and that seems too small to me.

What is our record attendance in the past 10 years?

So we just finished a state of the art practice facility and are going to up and move everything away from the heart of everything to the boondocks?
I agree a new arena will be nice but with enrollment going up how about moving convo to something new and renovating vines?

Over 8000 were there to see us get embarrassed by Clemson in Layer's first year, but that was because JR cancelled classes. I suspect the biggest legit crowds were in the 6000 range the year before with Curry and Co.

What is our record attendance in the past 10 years?

We've been pretty terrible the last 10 years. The question is how many of the students who turn out for football could be persuaded to turn out for a good environment and solid top 100 team? I say a nicely thought out 5000 to 6000 seats would be optimal.

ALAFlamesFan wrote:So we just finished a state of the art practice facility and are going to up and move everything away from the heart of everything to the boondocks?
I agree a new arena will be nice but with enrollment going up how about moving convo to something new and renovating vines?

We have spent a small fortune already on studies and plans to renovate the Vines, and nobody could come up with anything feasible and worth doing. The place is a dinosaur.

So they’re not going to locate the arena where Doc’s is situated at the moment? I thought that idea was a great one, especially the fact that a parking garage was going to be attached behind the arena and the pedestrian bridge coming from across the street(what was also stated was Doc’s would be relocated inside the the arena). I can’t believe they would put the basketball arena near the other facilities. With the capacity size, about 5k seemed reasonable; 3500 is not a good idea at all. I hope this plan will come into fruition soon so that it will benefit the established progress of the team so far. I also hope that in 7-8 years the teams (men&women) will have a name for themselves and that LU will be considered for a top tier conference during the conference realignment( like A-10; by a miracle Big East or Big 12).

I agree. Put it somewhere close to the other major sports. Soccer and hockey get main campus but basketball is up the mountain?

ALAFlamesFan wrote:So we just finished a state of the art practice facility and are going to up and move everything away from the heart of everything to the boondocks?
I agree a new arena will be nice but with enrollment going up how about moving convo to something new and renovating vines?

They're still going to use the practice facility. We are in need of a new modern facility and 3500-4000 seats sounds about right. bigger games can get moved to the Vines.

As for student turnout. We need to establish a student club we have nothing on campus right now. The jokers are just a group of students. At least club you can organize. Next they need to put an awards system in place for students to entice them to come. Seriously someone needs to call GCU up and see how they do it.

ballah09 wrote:

ALAFlamesFan wrote:So we just finished a state of the art practice facility and are going to up and move everything away from the heart of everything to the boondocks?
I agree a new arena will be nice but with enrollment going up how about moving convo to something new and renovating vines?

They're still going to use the practice facility. We are in need of a new modern facility and 3500-4000 seats sounds about right. bigger games can get moved to the Vines.

As for student turnout. We need to establish a student club we have nothing on campus right now. The jokers are just a group of students. At least club you can organize. Next they need to put an awards system in place for students to entice them to come. Seriously someone needs to call GCU up and see how they do it.

I agree, the Flames club is not cutting it for students. Since these students are tech savy, we need folks who can connect with them in a way to get their interest. Not that this is wrong, but I see more people wearing other schools apparel than ours. I want the students here to get excited about their school first and then have some interest in whatever they supported at home.

Sketch of the new arena in 2014:

https://bloximages.newyork1.vip.townnew ... 1f.pdf.pdf

olldflame wrote:

Purple Haize wrote:

Jonathan Carone wrote:Smaller arena - great.

Arena away from students - terrible.

That sums up so much.

I suspect they did not have a viable option to locate it closer to the dorms, but I'm sure there are plans to address the issue. A well run shuttle service would actually result in less effort for the students to get to games.

As far as the size is concerned, I hope they can hold off a bit to see how much interest the rapidly improving men's team can generate before committing to going too small. I've heard numbers as low as 3500, and that seems too small to me.

I always heard size doesn’t matter....

While a shuttle service might look like a fantastic idea on paper, and I don’t doubt it does, there is a ‘real world’ issue with it. I’ll just sum it up to say ‘out of sight out of mind’

3500-4000 may be a good number at the moment, but with the program clearly trending up, we may regret it if we lock in to a # like that too soon. Hopefully they can maintain some flexibility for at least 2-3 more years and see what develops.

ballah09 wrote:

ALAFlamesFan wrote:So we just finished a state of the art practice facility and are going to up and move everything away from the heart of everything to the boondocks?
I agree a new arena will be nice but with enrollment going up how about moving convo to something new and renovating vines?

They're still going to use the practice facility. We are in need of a new modern facility and 3500-4000 seats sounds about right. bigger games can get moved to the Vines.

As for student turnout. We need to establish a student club we have nothing on campus right now. The jokers are just a group of students. At least club you can organize. Next they need to put an awards system in place for students to entice them to come. Seriously someone needs to call GCU up and see how they do it.

I’m loathe to criticize LU Sport Marketing but I feel they are missing an opportunity here. I’ll use ASU and WVU as examples. Take a look at their games. Students are decked out in all sorts of school gear with great catch phrases. ‘Fear The Fork’ ‘Best Virginia’ ‘House of Heat’ ‘Press Virginia’ just to name a few. Kids will buy $15-25 shirts. LU can even afford to give them away to students sitting in a specific section. Help to build pride in the Program. Proof of concept? How many freaking Beat Coastal shirts do you still see around?

Ok. Off my soap box.

We are trending up but will they schedule quality opponents regularly? I don't think the MEACs and the Central Penn's can attract 4000+. I think 3500 arena with the Vines for the bigger games is perfect.

And Haize, I'm right there with you. I hope they figure out that their give aways don't work. Since they can get into games for free..enter and leave.

ballah09 wrote:We are trending up but will they schedule quality opponents regularly? I don't think the MEACs and the Central Penn's can attract 4000+. I think 3500 arena with the Vines for the bigger games is perfect.

And Haize, I'm right there with you. I hope they figure out that their give aways don't work. Since they can get into games for free..enter and leave.

The give always work if there is pride in the Institution. If there is ownership of the event. I know Jon poo poo’s the trumped up Coastal rivalry but it was effective. Maybe not on their end but certainly on LU’s end. You block off a specific section for a hundred or so students and give them a t shirt....they will stay. It will be an event. It’s the little things that make pride in a program not palatial facilities

......and off the soap box

ballah09 wrote:We are trending up but will they schedule quality opponents regularly? I don't think the MEACs and the Central Penn's can attract 4000+. I think 3500 arena with the Vines for the bigger games is perfect.

And Haize, I'm right there with you. I hope they figure out that their give aways don't work. Since they can get into games for free..enter and leave.

So we build a beautiful new arena, and then every time we have a "big game" we go back to the tired old Vines? There is something bass-akwards in that if you ask me. I say come up with a number we can live with for the new place, (I'm thinking 5-6000), reconfigure the Vines permanently and no turning back.

Purple Haize wrote:. I know Jon poo poo’s the trumped up Coastal rivalry but it was effective. Maybe not on their end but certainly on LU’s end.

Oh it was absolutely effective. There’s no denying that.

A new arena has to be 5000-6000 seats with the ability to tarp off the upper sections to cap it for smaller games. Go look at Cameron Indoor and do a slightly smaller version of that with modern amenities. Their lower bowl would likely be that 3000-4000 we are looking but the upper areas allow that to be doubled.

That sounds like a good seating number Jon. Would an arena that size be able to accommodate a box for Jerry Jr and for IM like they have basically shoehorned into the setup of the Vines Center?

Class of 20Something wrote:
What is our record attendance in the past 10 years?

I'd bet more than 3500 and that is with a crappy product for the most part.

BJWilliams wrote:That sounds like a good seating number Jon. Would an arena that size be able to accommodate a box for Jerry Jr and for IM like they have basically shoehorned into the setup of the Vines Center?

If you built it the right way, sure.

Jon - I understand the “away from students” concern. I think the reason is for traffic. I assume it will also be used for concerts. Ease of access to 460 will be a plus.