[Cider Jim]

Bock, I should have ended by original comment with this smilie instead.

[flamehunter]

I hate to change the subject but isn't this game #18????

[SENOREIDA]

Selling out the stadium wouldnt be a problem if we had a 1400 seat stadium

And the funny thing is, with the people we will get on Saturday, not all of them would even fit inside the CCU SuperDome!!!! (capacity, 1100)

we get our new gym next year. that 1100 seat gym is probably the loudest in the big south

[thepostman]

are you sure you aren't BJ?

[jbock13]

Selling out the stadium wouldnt be a problem if we had a 1400 seat stadium

And the funny thing is, with the people we will get on Saturday, not all of them would even fit inside the CCU SuperDome!!!! (capacity, 1100)

we get our new gym next year. that 1100 seat gym is probably the loudest in the big south

I agree. I mean our place is big but even with a 3,000 crowd it's still quiet. When you've got a sold out 1,100 place, it can get crazy.

[skywalker5291]

I just checked espn3 website and the game will be on there for anyone who wanted to know.

[SuperJon]

Selling out the stadium wouldnt be a problem if we had a 1400 seat stadium

And the funny thing is, with the people we will get on Saturday, not all of them would even fit inside the CCU SuperDome!!!! (capacity, 1100)

we get our new gym next year. that 1100 seat gym is probably the loudest in the big south

No. No it's not. It's not even close. Go to Cameron Hall on a weekend game when VMI is good. Then you'll hear the loudest place in the Big South. Coastal's gym is good when packed, but having been to both when both teams were good, Cameron wins hands down.

[SuperJon]

As for this, that kid's a d-----. He's talked crap on Twitter for a couple of years now. I'm completely shocked that they allow someone who is speaking for the university say the things that he did. I was a freaking grad assistant and didn't have anything Liberty related in my name and got in trouble multiple times for things I said on Twitter. He'll never be half the mascot that Patrick Brochu was anyway.

[Cider Jim]

Lang with another great article:

LU men set to challenge reigning BSC champion Coastal Carolina
By Staff [says "Chris Lang" in the hard copy]
Published: January 08, 2011
It’s hard to peg tonight’s Liberty-Coastal Carolina game at the Vines Center as the biggest regular-season home game in Flames’ history. But it’s certainly the most important game in recent memory for a program that hasn’t seriously contended for a conference regular-season title in seven seasons.

Liberty enters having won four straight games and five of six, the only loss during that span a loss at Hampton in which the Flames frittered away an 18-point lead. Coastal Carolina is 13-2 and has won 11 straight, and the Chanticleers come in ranked 13th in the latest CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25. Both teams are undefeated in Big South play.

"It’s kind of a dream come true," Liberty point guard Jesse Sanders said of the matchup of unbeatens. "You’ve been looking forward to that game all year.

CSU's coach has played us both, and he's calling it anybody's game:

Radebaugh’s take
Charleston Southern’s Barclay Radebaugh is the only Big South coach to have faced both Coastal and Liberty on the road this season. His take on tonight’s showdown:

"I’d buy a ticket to watch that game. It’s going to be a really good basketball game. That’s two really good teams. Liberty should be proud that Dale’s put them in a position to compete to have the lead early in the conference. This is a tough place to play in here, even without the students. … It doesn’t seem like it, but it’s really tough to play here for some reason. I’ve played both of them, and I call it a toss-up."

http://www2.newsadvance.com/sports/2011 ... ar-760954/

[Sly Fox]

Do we need somebody to come clean on here about making it "tough place to play" for Barclay?

[olldflame]

They've lost here the last 5 years. What else is he gunna say?

"LU really doesn't have much of a home court advantage, but they kick our butt there every year anyway." ??

[therealbodoyle]

I'm assuming you guys didn't see the CCU VMI game. Everyone came dressed as seats. The place should be sold out every game. Doesn't matter if the team is good or not. It's easy to sell out when they are good b/c all the fair-weather fans come out then. Be a real fan and go to all the games.

[Chippy]

On the football sites we complain about the students leaving at halftime. I guess for basketball they . . . . . Our average attendance is 1800. And that factors in the first game with Intermont (3700+). In my undergradutae days we had a student body of @ 5000 and yet filled up our 3K+ gym every game.

[TIMSCAR20]

Man I'm not calling this one tonight but I still can't wait! I'm pumped. Just read the 1st 1000 fans will get free t-shirts! This is going to be a tough one for the Flames no doubt. If I wasn't on baby watch I would be in Lexington right now on my usual Big South double header on Saturdays.

[jbock13]

I'm hoping they have Beat Coastal shirts.

I'm also hoping they don't give a 3X size one again.

[sporter]

As a relatively new Liberty follower, I was curious as to whether there was a time when the locals and students attended the games better than they do now. Football and baseball both appear to do very well relative to their peers (not just big south schools) around the country but basketball, which is a sport where there is sometimes a lot of excitement at smaller school games, appears to lag behind. Just curious for a glimpse into the past.

[olldflame]

The answer in a word sporter is YES.

There were years back in the Jeff Meyer era (90s) when we averaged over 4000 for home games and had near sellouts for Radford and Tech. It looked like we were getting the excitement back 2 years ago before the major defections.

[LUconn]

Basketball attendance fluctuates based on a combination of how well we're doing and hype. If we're in 1st place in the BSC in mid February, we'll get 5000. If we had an electrifying player who's brother was a household name, we'd get 5000. It's is EXTREME fair-weather territory. I don't even know why. It is far superior to football in terms of a fan experience and interaction. I don't know if it's like that everywhere but I would imagine it is. My theory is that it has something to do with the number of home games and erratic scheduling (ie. not once a week on saturdays)

[olldflame]

We have a player who's brother is a household name to NBA fans and is electrifying sometimes. Does that count?

[LUconn]

Attendance indicates it does not.

[TheLouder]

lets beat the stupid chickens with 1 or 10,000 watching!!!

[jbock13]

Basketball attendance fluctuates based on a combination of how well we're doing and hype. If we're in 1st place in the BSC in mid February, we'll get 5000. If we had an electrifying player who's brother was a household name, we'd get 5000. It's is EXTREME fair-weather territory. I don't even know why. It is far superior to football in terms of a fan experience and interaction. I don't know if it's like that everywhere but I would imagine it is. My theory is that it has something to do with the number of home games and erratic scheduling (ie. not once a week on saturdays)

Personally I feel it's when the Big South schedules their games. Like personally Saturday games at 7PM are always a stretch because not only do I drive 45 minutes to the game each way, but I work at 5AM on Sundays... that means not much sleep. They should try a few afternoon games on Saturdays, that may get more people in, especially kids or parents who have young kids.

Not that I mean ALL attendance issues are because of it, but I could at least see a 10% increase based on this scenario.

[olldflame]

We've tried Saturday afternoon games. Major fail. I don't believe the conference dictates starting times unless it's a TV situation.

[WinthropEagleFan]

Yeah, I'm pretty sure the home team handles the start time, with TV playing a role at times. WU even asked for input during the offseason about the best start time for weekend games (and they went with 7pm, even though I voted for 4pm). UNCA almost always plays their home games around 4:30 on Saturdays...seems like VMI likes to play early afternoon games most of the times. Most of the other teams tend to go with night games, though sometimes the time is influenced on whether the game is a part of a women's/men's doubleheader, or around other campus events.

[jbock13]

Well Liberty seems to like 9PM start's... for TV lol.